Whistleblowers Allege FEMA Wasted Taxpayer Funds, Left Local Responders Without Deployment Orders

According to Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), whistleblowers alleged that FEMA has wasted taxpayer dollars, misappropriated funds, and left local responders without deployment orders in the wake of Hurricane Helene.

The Florida congressman described the whistleblower allegations in a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

“FEMA whistleblowers allege agency misappropriated funds amid Hurricane Helene disaster, withheld pre-disaster aid, and left first responders and service members waiting in hotels without deployment orders,” Benny Johnson wrote.

BREAKING: FEMA whistleblowers allege agency misappropriated funds amid Hurricane Helene disaster, withheld pre-disaster aid, and left first responders and service members waiting in hotels without deployment orders pic.twitter.com/HFSZS6CO1o

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) October 4, 2024

A closer look:

The letter reads:

Yesterday, you stated that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is a part of your department, “does not have enough funds to make it through the [hurricane] season.” This news comes after FEMA has spent hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on migrants due to Border Czar Kamala Harris’ open border instead of prioritizing funding for Americans impacted by disasters.

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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 mismanagement issues. FEMA has wasted taxpayer funds, misappropriated funds, and left other federal, state, and local responders without deployment orders on the ground. 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. We have confirmed FEMA employees deployed, on the clock, awaiting orders in hotels. FEMA pre-disaster aid was withheld, exacerbating the emergency. It is also public that NGOs have purchased airline tickets for migrants through the use of FEMA funds.

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.

Please provide answers to the following questions to my office by October 11, 2024:

(1) What policies and regulations of the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA prevent emergency funds from being wasted on illegal immigrants, including what conditions are placed on grantees of the agency?; and

(2) Of FEMA’s total budget for FY 2024, what portion of funds can be guaranteed to have been spent solely on American citizens, and what portion of funds was or may have been spent on noncitizens?; and

(3) In FY 2024, what portion of funds in the Disaster Relief Fund has been spent on non-disaster-relief programs, such as providing services to illegal aliens or providing routine training to FEMA employees
authorized out of general appropriations?

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said FEMA doesn’t have enough funding to last through hurricane season.

Also, Kamala Harris announced a slap-in-the-face $750 to victims.

Daily Mail reports:

With over 200 Americans dead and the agency strapped for cash, FEMA’s massive budget for illegal immigrants has come under scrutiny as a possible way to provide support to devastated U.S. citizens.

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Over the last two years, FEMA has handed out more than $1 billion taxpayer dollars to specifically support illegal migrants with housing.

But now there’s no money to help out the 150,000 American citizens who have reached out for federal assistance after their homes were damaged by Hurricane Helene.

‘FEMA does not have the funds to make it through the season,’ Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas admitted on Wednesday.

But only last week Congress passed a funding bill for an additional $20 billion for the anticipated hurricane season.

And the whistleblowers allege the department, despite receiving the recent funding, has been slow and ineffective in its response to Hurricane Helene.

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at 100 Percent Fed Up.

View the original article here.