A passerby takes a photo of a property from a road covered in sand after Hurricane Milton's landfall in October 2024 in Manasota Key, Fla. A government watchdog report said Tuesday that FEMA crews broke the law when they skipped some houses with signs supporting U.S. President Donald Trump during hurricane relief efforts. File photo by Cristobal Herrera-Ulashkevich/EPA-EFE
Aug. 25 (UPI) -- An internal government watchdog said Tuesday that a Federal Emergency Management Agency crew violated the Hatch Act when it skipped houses with signs supporting President Donald Trump during Hurricane Milton recovery efforts in 2024.
The report comes from the inspector general's office of the Department of Homeland Security. Officials determined that crew skipped 11 homes in Florida with Trump signs.
This "eroded public trust in FEMA's ability to treat everyone impartially, offer unbiased and consistent assistance and ensure equal access to resources and tools," the report said.
The Hatch Act, first passed in 1939, limits certain political activities by federal employees to make sure they're administered in a nonpartisan way.
