What government does for anyone, it must do for everyone or it must do for no one. That’s a pretty good, basic principle of good government; sadly, it’s not always handled that way, and a bureaucrat with a political agenda can hurt a lot of people.
Case in point: On Friday we reported on the case of a FEMA supervisor who, in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton’s damaging pass across Florida, ordered aid workers to bypass homes bearing Trump signs or flags. This was called a “best practice.”
Previously on RedState:
OUTRAGE: FEMA Workers Working Hurricane Milton Aftermath Ordered to Bypass Houses With Trump Signs
We can now report that the supervisor in question has been “removed from the role.”
A Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) official has been removed from a role after directing disaster relief workers to skip homes “advertising” support for President-elect Trump after the devastating hurricanes in Florida.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, a FEMA spokesperson said the agency is “deeply disturbed” after the incident,” noting the official who gave the instruction “was given no direction to tell teams to avoid these homes.”
“While we believe this is an isolated incident, we have taken measures to remove the employee from their role and are investigating the matter to prevent this from happening ever again,” the spokesperson said.
“The employee who issued this guidance had no authority and was given no direction to tell teams to avoid these homes, and we are reaching out to the people who may have not been reached as a result of this incident.”
This is an unforgivable breach of trust. In any disaster recovery operation like this, bypassing any citizens because of their political affiliation should be dealt with more harshly than just “removing them” from the role – dismissal would be indicated, right?
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That’s what the House Oversight Committee’s James Comer (R-KY) is saying.
In a statement on X, the U.S. House Oversight Committee and Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., said the person responsible for sending out guidance to employees has not been fired.
“FEMA hasn’t fired this person. . . . But the IRS has been trying to force IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley out for blowing the whistle! We must hold these unelected bureaucrats accountable,” Comer wrote on X.
“FEMA admits this happened but doesn’t say if the bureaucrat responsible has been fired,” the House Oversight Committee wrote on X. “Democrats relentlessly defend the rules that insulate unelected bureaucrats from accountability and make it nearly impossible to fire bad employees. This is why we need President Trump’s reforms to make bureaucrats accountable.”
The best way to deal with this breach of trust would be to immediately and publicly dismiss this person. Rep. Comer seems to be stating here that there is a new sheriff in town, and that the planned reforms in the federal bureaucracy will make it easier to fire bad employees – we can hope.
But civil service protections aside, in a case like this, where a supervisor of aid workers in the aftermath of a natural disaster is actually ordering aid workers to bypass homes based on an expression of political opinion – that’s so egregious as to merit immediate dismissal.
That new sheriff can’t ride into town soon enough.
