By Stephen Dinan The Washington Times Tuesday, February 11, 2025
The Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday that it had fired four employees it blamed for making “egregious” payments for luxury hotels to house migrants in New York City.
Those axed include the chief financial officer at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, two program analysts and a grant specialist.
“Under President Trump and Secretary [Kristi] Noem’s leadership, DHS will not sit idly and allow deep state activists to undermine the will and safety of the American people,” Homeland Security said in an unsigned statement.
Elon Musk, head of the Department of Government Efficiency, said FEMA made a $59 million payment last week to the hotels.
“Sending this money violated the law and is in gross insubordination to the president’s executive order,” Mr. Musk wrote on social media.
FEMA has been reeling from self-imposed wounds over recent months, and Mr. Trump has suggested it is time to dismantle the agency, which handles federal disaster response.
“FEMA SHOULD BE TERMINATED!” Mr. Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social.
The money Mr. Musk pointed to appears to be the city’s portion of a fund created by Congress to pay states and localities to accommodate the millions of unauthorized migrants who settled in their jurisdictions in recent years. FEMA’s Shelter and Services program pays for housing, meals and other support for the arrivals to begin to assimilate.
Congress allocated $650 million for the program last year.
As of September, New York City had received three installments of $38.9 million, $22.2 million and $20.4 million.
Other big winners included San Diego, where the county received $19.6 million, the local Catholic Charities branch received $41.2 million and Jewish Family Service of San Diego received $22.1 million.
New York City officials disputed Mr. Musk’s claims, according to the New York Post.
The city said $19 million of the money went to house migrants, $26 million will go to food, security and other services, and $13 million will go to shelters. The federal money was reimbursement for costs the city had incurred.
After Mr. Musk’s social media post, FEMA’s acting director said he was stepping in.
“Effective yesterday these payments have all been suspended from FEMA,” Cameron Hamilton said. “Personnel will be held accountable.”
The payments to localities for illegal immigrants started in 2019 and ramped up during the Biden administration as the surge of migrants hit crisis proportions. Border numbers have relaxed in recent months, and communities have begun to shut down some of the shelters that housed migrants.
Mr. Trump said Tuesday that FEMA had “spent tens of millions of dollars in Democrat areas, disobeying orders.”
He said the federal government should get out of the disaster relief business and leave it to the states.
Ms. Noem has backed the idea.
Democrats blasted the idea and called on Ms. Noem to testify to the House Homeland Security Committee.
“FEMA has played a critical role in responding to disasters in the districts of both Democratic and Republican committee members, and we must ensure that the administration does not undermine the agency’s ability to help state and local governments respond to disasters,” said Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, Mississippi Democrat.
The agency faced intense criticism for its response to hurricanes along the East Coast last year.
In one high-profile incident, a FEMA employee ordered her team canvassing neighborhoods in Florida to skip homes with Trump campaign signs.
The special counsel’s office released a report Tuesday finding that the supervisor, Marn’i Washington, ordered Crew 33 to “avoid homes advertising Trump.”
As a result, at least five of her team members skipped such houses in October, the investigation said. The special counsel’s office said that was a violation of the Hatch Act, which limits the interaction of politics and government services.
“By directing political activity at her subordinates, Washington used her official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election,” the office said.
Ms. Washington said she thought she was following the agency’s policies about limiting dangerous interactions. She told her supervisors she had instructed her team to avoid homes that had “shoot on sight” or “no trespassing” signs.
The special counsel’s office said she wasn’t being truthful. They uncovered a Microsoft Teams message that specifically told Crew 33 to “avoid” homes with Trump campaign signs. Investigators found no reports that these homes were associated with violence or antagonistic interactions in the area Crew 33 was canvassing.
