Federal, state, and local emergency management whistleblowers slammed the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) on Friday in the wake of Hurricane Helene’s disastrous effects on the Southeast.
In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) wrote that whistleblowers have come forward accusing FEMA, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, of misappropriating taxpayer dollars and leaving first responders on the ground with no orders while Americans struggle to get help in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Tennessee. The whistleblower allegations come after Mayorkas warned that FEMA was running short on funding for emergency response following Hurricane Helene.
Gaetz also blasted Mayorkas over reports of FEMA prioritizing funding for illegal immigrants over the past two years. Since the fall of 2022, FEMA-administered programs have spent $1.4 billion to address the illegal immigration crisis that has ballooned under the Biden-Harris administration, The New York Post reported.
“My office has been in contact with whistleblowers in numerous emergency-management functions at the federal, state, and local levels, and they all point to the same critical management issue. FEMA has wasted taxpayer funds, misappropriated funds, and left other federal, state, and local responders without deployment orders on the ground,” Gaetz writes. “As reported and further confirmed by my office, hundreds, if not thousands of service members were deployed by the Department of Defense to North Carolina and have sat idle, waiting for FEMA.”
BREAKING: FEMA whistleblowers have come forward alleging that the agency misappropriated funds in the wake of Helene, withheld pre-disaster aid, and that first responders and service members have been waiting in hotels without deployment orders. pic.twitter.com/uf0XrspRTz
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) October 4, 2024
More than 200 Americans are dead following Helene’s destruction as some people are still searching for their missing loved ones. At least 150,000 Americans who were in Helene’s path have reached out to the federal government for help after their homes were either damaged or destroyed, The Daily Mail reported. The Biden-Harris administration says it has provided more than $20 million for Hurricane Helene survivors, but whistleblowers allege that the federal government has failed to reach victims with essential supplies.
“The aftermath of Hurricane Helene is a major disaster, and your waste and unpreparedness are leaving Americans in distress—unable to access food, water, or medicine—and expecting help, with none coming,” the letter continued.
Former President Donald Trump blasted the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the natural disaster on Thursday, saying, “If you want to see how sick and distorted Kamala Harris’ priorities are, just consider FEMA.”
“Kamala spent all her FEMA money, billions of dollars, on housing for illegal migrants, many of whom should not be in our country,” Trump added. “Now we have a horrific disaster in North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, and Virginia. And the Harris-Biden administration says they don’t have any money…they spent it all on illegal migrants.”
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The White House shot back at Republicans’ criticism of FEMA funds, accusing GOP politicians of “peddling bald faced lies,” according to The Hill.
“But some Republican leaders – and their partners in rightwing media – are using Hurricane Helene to lie and divide us,” White House Senior Deputy Press Secretary Bates said. “Their latest missive: baselessly claiming that FEMA is out of money to respond to Hurricane Helene – because of an existing program that supports cities and towns that are sheltering migrants.”
The Biden-Harris administration says that the funding it has used for illegal immigrants comes from a different pile than the funding used for hurricane response.
“No disaster relief funding at all was used to support migrants housing and services. None. At. All,” Bates added.
