Tennessee Governor Bill Lee on Nov. 10 revealed he is working with Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti to investigate whether the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) discriminated against Tennesseans affected by Hurricane Helene based on their political views.
Lee made the announcement after a FEMA official directed relief workers to avoid homes advertising support for President-elect Donald Trump after Hurricane Milton in Florida, specifically through guidance that told workers to “avoid homes advertising Trump” and “practice de-escalation and preventative measures” as best practices when providing relief.
After the worker behind the anti-Trump guidance was fired, FEMA Director Deanne Criswell said the partisanship “will not be tolerated” at the agency, and vowed to “hold people accountable” should it happen again.
“FEMA exists to serve all Americans, and these actions have eroded the people’s trust by failing to deliver desperately needed relief to all survivors,” wrote Lee in a post to the social media platform X, sharing the report about FEMA avoiding homes with visible expressions of support toward Trump.
The governor then described the FEMA guidance as an example of government being weaponized against opponents of the Biden-Harris administration. He confirmed Skrmetti is examining whether similar guidance was issued for East Tennessee.
Lee wrote, “Americans should never have the government weaponized against them. I am working with [Skrmetti] to seek answers & determine if Tennesseans were discriminated against, and look forward to President Trump taking swift action to remove partisan bureaucrats when he takes office.”
Calling the guidance a “moral abomination,” Skrmetti confirmed the attorney general’s office will seek answers in his own post to X.
“It is a moral abomination to abandon Americans during a crisis because of their political preferences,” wrote Skrmetti. “We will demand answers from FEMA about whether political discrimination happened in Tennessee and work with the Governor’s office and the U.S. Department of Justice to secure the most severe consequences possible for any bureaucrats who put politics over people.”
FEMA was previously accused of confiscating supplies in East Tennessee after Hurricane Helene. Although the agency denied seizing goods, Representative Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) nonetheless said he was “not confident” in the agency.
“Every agency has shown the American people they’re not worthy of holding or spending their tax dollars and FEMA is no different,” said Burchett.
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