Comer to use FEMA hearing to argue administration has failed to hold federal workforce accountable

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer is expected Tuesday to criticize the Biden-Harris administration for what he considers its failure to hold federal workers accountable for their work and other actions, during the panel's much anticipated Federal Emergency Management Agency hearing.

Expected to among the top concerns in the wide-ranging hearing is the matter of the FEMA employee who directed fellow workers helping Hurricane Milton survivors last month in Florida not to go to homes with yard signs supporting then-GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump. 

The employee was fired, and in making the announcement Saturday about the termination, agency Administrator Deanne Criswell said the directive was a "clear violation of FEMA's core values and principles to help people regardless of their political affiliation." 

However, Comer thinks the matter goes beyond the one employee and is perhaps more pervasive within the U.S. civil service. 

“The current system does not have strong enough mechanisms to ensure accountability," Comer said in excerpts shared with Just The News. "The disciplinary system is run by and for civil servants to protect civil servants."

On the incident in Florida, he says: “We only know this because one whistleblower was brave enough to come forward. But others knew about this and said nothing. And FEMA leadership didn’t take action against this supervisor until the press exposed this discrimination. More importantly, FEMA officials did not immediately end the discrimination.”

The hearing is scheduled to take place at 2 p.m. Eastern.

Misty Severi is a reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.