(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) The ousted FEMA supervisor who ordered first responders to bypass Florida homes displaying signs in favor of President Donald Trump blatantly engaged in unlawful partisan activity at taxpayers’ expense, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel determined on Tuesday.
OSC found that Marn’i Washington, a Biden-era FEMA official, violated the Hatch Act when she unilaterally prohibited her staff from providing aid to homes with pro-MAGA signs after Hurricane Milton struck the Sunshine State in October 2024.
The Hatch Act bans federal workers from engaging in partisan activities on taxpayers’ dime. The federal watchdog agency filed a Hatch Act complaint with the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, seeking disciplinary action against Washington, who was fired after her misconduct was exposed.
“One of Congress’s goals in passing the Hatch Act was to ensure that government programs are administered in a nonpartisan manner,” Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger said in a press statement reviewed by Headline USA.
The OSC said Washington “violated the Hatch Act by instructing subordinates to avoid homes with certain campaign signs.”
It further clarified that a “federal employee clearly violates the Hatch Act by engaging in explicit partisan political bias or activity when on the job.”
Washington addressed the accusations in November 2024, claiming her orders to skip MAGA homes came from higher-ups, according to her remarks on the Ronald Martin Unfiltered podcast.
Despite this, she was the only individual the Biden administration fired for the incident.
“Firstly, I’m being framed,” Washington insisted during an interview on NewsNation. “There’s no violation of the Hatch Act. I was simply following orders.”
She further justified her actions by citing “safety precautions,” claiming MAGA-supporting homes were more likely to attack federal agents when offered assistance. Neither FEMA nor Washington provided concrete evidence to support these assertions.
“It just so happened that, unfortunately, most of the hostile encounters, those running trends, did have those campaign signs,” Washington alleged.
She added, “So again, it’s a collective effort in order for everyone to feel comfortable, in order to render the servitude. I don’t have a horse in that race. My orders come from my superior, and I simply just execute.”
FEMA supervisor Marn'i Washington was fired last week after she allegedly told relief workers to avoid homes with Trump signs… but now she says being scapegoated! She joins Dan to discuss it all. pic.twitter.com/Xn94K56MMQ
— Dan Abrams Live (@danabramslive) November 19, 2024
In earlier interviews, Washington dismissed accusations of political bias, declaring the claims baseless because she was no fan of then-Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate who ultimately lost the election to Trump.
In response to the backlash, then-FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell placed all blame on Washington.
“This is a clear violation of FEMA’s core values and principles to help people regardless of their political affiliation. This was reprehensible,” Criswell declared in a statement.
“I want to be clear to all of my employees and the American people, this type of behavior and action will not be tolerated at FEMA and we will hold people accountable if they violate these standards of conduct,” Criswell continued. She resigned on Jan. 20, 2025.
It has been an honor serving as @FEMA Administrator for nearly four years. The FEMA family takes immense pride in our mission of helping people before, during and after disasters. I know the agency will continue to serve the nation as we support this peaceful transition of power.
— ARCHIVED: FEMA (@FEMA_Deanne) January 20, 2025
