A DHS probe found that FEMA employees under the Biden administration recorded citizens’ political beliefs and delayed disaster relief to homes with Trump signs.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said on Oct. 21 that a wide-ranging internal investigation found the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) engaged in “textbook political discrimination” during the Biden administration by systematically withholding or delaying disaster aid to Americans whose homes displayed pro-Trump or pro-Second Amendment signs.
The probe, conducted by the DHS Privacy Office, concluded that FEMA employees between 2021 and 2024 recorded citizens’ political beliefs in agency databases, and that those details were sometimes used to bypass or postpone aid to disaster survivors. The conduct, investigators said, violated the Privacy Act of 1974 and other DHS data-handling rules intended to protect Americans’ First Amendment rights.
“The information collected included obviously protected information about individuals’ freedom of expression, such as campaign signs showing support for then-presidential candidate Donald Trump or political positions, such as supporting gun ownership, or indicating that an individual expressed support or disagreed with a political leader,” the report, dated August 2025 and released this week, states.
Internal FEMA communications reviewed by DHS showed that several supervisors and crew leads told field teams to avoid or delay visits to homes displaying Trump campaign flags or other conservative symbols. Data pulled from FEMA’s disaster-relief software showed skipped home visits, missing aid notifications, and field notes citing political signs as reasons for no contact.
The report said FEMA never reported these instances as required “privacy incidents,” and that its oversight mechanisms failed to detect or correct the conduct. Investigators also said the agency created “hidden government databases” that tracked constitutionally protected political expression, eroding public trust and fairness in disaster response. The report characterized FEMA’s actions as “a pattern of weaponizing federal power against Americans.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the findings were shocking and revealed a deliberate abuse of power.
“The federal government was withholding aid against Americans in crisis based on their political beliefs—this should horrify every American, regardless of political persuasion,” Noem said in a statement on Tuesday. “We will not let this stand.”
By Tom Ozimek
