Ahead of FEMA chief’s testimony to Congress, fired worker tells CNN she was following protocol when skipping Trump homes

The former Federal Emergency Management Agency employee who was fired earlier this month after being accused of skipping homes of Donald Trump supporters while providing relief in Florida after Hurricane Milton told CNN on Monday night that she was simply following FEMA protocol.

The former Federal Emergency Management Agency employee who was fired earlier this month after being accused of skipping homes of Donald Trump supporters while providing relief in Florida after Hurricane Milton told CNN on Monday night that she was simply following FEMA protocol. “What I’d like for the American people to know is before I even deployed to Florida, that this was the work culture there,” Marn’i Washington told CNN’s Laura Coates. “I was on two teams in Florida and the first team, when I arrived, they were implementing avoidance and de-escalation and unfortunately that trend ran with those Trump signs.” FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell is set to testify on Capitol Hill on Tuesday afternoon before the House Oversight Committee in what will likely be fiery hearings as lawmakers question her about disaster relief and whether the agency avoided providing aid to Republicans in hard-hit areas. CNN reported on threats against FEMA workers in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene the month before, including the case of a North Carolina man who was arrested for allegedly threatening harm against FEMA employees in October. Local authorities said the man was armed with a handgun and a rifle when he was arrested. FEMA temporarily paused aid to several communities in North Carolina, and outreach resumed after about a day, a FEMA spokesperson said at the time. Washington said her team encountered hostility from some residents in Florida as they went door-to-door.