Outrage follows anti-Trump discrimination over hurricane aid

Nov 11, 2024

Debris remains on the streets following Hurricanes Helene and Milton as Floridians vote in the general election on Nov. 5, 2024.

Debris remains on the streets following Hurricanes Helene and Milton as Floridians vote in the general election on Nov. 5, 2024. | Mike Carlson/AP

Good morning and Happy Veterans Day.

State and national Republicans are furious following a bombshell report that a FEMA supervisor directed relief workers in Lake Placid to avoid homes displaying pro- Trump flags and signs.

The report, from Leif Le Mahieu at the conservative news site The Daily Wire , revealed the workers — who’d been dispatched by Homeland Security to help an understaffed FEMA — skipped at least 20 homes as a result of the guidance. These relief workers generally walk door-to-door after a hurricane to help storm victims sign up for cash so they can pay for basic necessities, or to help them enroll in other assistance.

FEMA quickly acknowledged the problem by firing the supervisor and referred the matter to an independent special counsel. FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell — who’s had a strong rapport with Gov. Ron DeSantis — called the behavior “reprehensible” in a statement and said the actions violated the agency’s “core values.” She promised to “make sure this never happens again.”

But that’s far from the end of the matter. The state is seeking answers, with DeSantis ordering Florida’s Division of Emergency Management to launch its own investigation. “The blatant weaponization of government by partisan activists in the federal bureaucracy is yet another reason why the Biden-Harris administration is in its final days,” he wrote on X. Kevin Guthrie, who leads Florida’s Emergency Division, urged FEMA in a letter to make sure it retained all evidence related to the incident, including chat logs that show the orders to skip pro-Trump homes.

And there’s going to be a congressional investigation as well. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) has set a hearing for Nov. 19 and asked Criswell to testify and take questions about how this could have happened. The investigation has the support of Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), who led Florida’s emergency division during DeSantis’ first couple of years in office.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), who appeared alongside President Joe Biden when he surveyed damage in her district, also sent a letter to Criswell demanding to know what the process is for approving guidance that goes out to different response teams.

Aside from the real ramifications to families who were excluded, the latest revelations are a political disaster for the White House. FEMA indicated in its statement that the incident seems to have been a one-off isolated to the since-fired supervisor. But the fight over the adequacy of storm recovery was a major part of the presidential campaigns for President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

In public appearances, both Biden and Harris blasted what they termed “misinformation” from Trump, including that the federal government was intentionally withholding aid to victims in GOP areas. They also repeatedly accused Trump of politicizing the federal response around natural disasters.

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... DATELINE TALLAHASSEE ...

Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a press conference in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 17, 2024.

Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a press conference in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 17, 2024. | Joe Raedle/Getty Images

THIS WEEK — Ciao! DeSantis is headed to Italy for a trade mission, reports POLITICO’s Gary Fineout.

The governor will be joined by 80 others, including presidents of three public Florida universities and agency heads. He’ll be stopping in Rome, Florence, Turin and Milan.

“Italy and Florida share a special relationship as peninsular entities with many shared industries, and I was grateful that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni invited our Florida delegation to visit,” DeSantis said in a statement. “This mission will strengthen ties between our state and their nation and bring new and increased opportunities and investments to Florida.”

MENDING FENCES? — “Florida Republicans are thrilled about Susie Wiles — with one big exception,” by POLITICO’s Gary Fineout . “Gov. Ron DeSantis, who had a falling out with [incoming White House chief of staff Susie] Wiles after she helped orchestrate his first successful run for governor in 2018, remained silent [about her new appointment]. And it may stay that way. While DeSantis did have a rapprochement with Trump after DeSantis’ unsuccessful bid for president, it does not appear to have extended to Wiles. … Florida operatives close to Wiles stressed that it would not hurt the state, even if she and the governor no longer had a relationship.”

DeSantis doesn’t appear to be angling for a job in the next Trump administration. “I think me quarterbacking the Sunshine State is probably how I make the biggest difference,” he told students at the University of Notre Dame over the weekend, per Florida Politics’ A.G. Gancarski.

APOLITICAL — Education measures in Florida saw bipartisan backing, reports Jeffrey S. Solochek of the Tampa Bay Times . “Voters did not approve a statewide amendment, pushed by Republican lawmakers, to return to partisan school board elections. … Of 23 [school board] candidates the governor formally backed this year, 13 lost and 10 won. At the same time, voters OK’d school district proposals to renew or increase local property or sales taxes in 21 of 22 counties, regardless of the prevailing political winds in their communities. The approvals came by wide margins, despite DeSantis railing against such referendums as ‘absolutely not the way to go.’”

AFTER ABORTION AND POT AMENDMENT FAILURES — “Despite getting majority voter support, it’s unlikely that DeSantis and Republican lawmakers will propose any changes to expand access to abortion or open up the marijuana marketplace,” report Romy Ellenbogen of the Tampa Bay Times and Ana Ceballos of the Miami Herald.

PARTIAL WIN FOR UNIONS — “Anti-union law union is unconstitutional and ‘unreasonable,’ judge finds,” by the Florida Phoenix’s Jay Waagmeester. “U.S. District Court Judge Mark Walker ruled that public teacher union members in Pinellas and Hernando counties had been damaged by the Florida Public Employees Relations Commission after the passage of SB 256 , which had a component banning payroll deductions for the purpose of paying dues.”

PENINSULA AND BEYOND

FAMINE IS SPREADING — “Haiti’s ruling council moves to fire prime minister, endangering U.S.-backed transition,” reports Jacqueline Charles of the Miami Herald . “After weeks of tensions over who should control the government, the ruling Transitional Presidential Council moved late Friday to fire Prime Minister Garry Conille in an act that resembled more of a coup than a simple change in governance, as Haitians and diplomats tried to keep pace. The council reportedly met with the national security forces in which leaders were informed of changes, and decided among themselves a replacement for Conille.”

— Expect heightened security around Mar-a-Lago after Trump’s victory, reports Antonio Fins of The Palm Beach Post.

DATELINE D.C.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) arrives with his wife, Ann, at a campaign watch party on election night in Bonita Springs, Florida, on Nov. 5, 2024.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) arrives with his wife, Ann, at a campaign watch party on election night in Bonita Springs, Florida, on Nov. 5, 2024. | Chris O'Meara/AP

THIS WEEK — Senate Republicans will gather behind closed doors to pick the chamber’s next majority leader on Wednesday, when Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) will face off against “the Johns” — Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas).

The vote will happen by secret ballot and President-elect Donald Trump hasn’t yet weighed in on a preferred candidate, instead demanding they agree to recess appointments ( something Scott does agree with). Should Trump back a specific senator, it could be a game changer.

So far, Scott has the public support of Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) — as well as a push by prominent outside Trump supporters including CPAC, Tucker Carlson, RFK Jr. and Elon Musk (who spent much of the weekend at Mar-a-Lago).

“We need a Republican Party to start solving the problems of this country, and we have a significant number of problems,” Scott said last week in Bonita Springs during his reelection victory speech. “Florida is the center of the Republican Party of this country. Washington could learn a helluva lot from what we’ve done, right here in this great state.”

On Sunday, Scott said on Fox News that Republicans “represent the workers” and that he thought Trump had a “mandate” for governing, per POLITICO’s Greta Reich.

Scott has at least one detractor: Dana Loesch, a conservative influencer and former spokesperson for the NRA. She referred to Scott as “gun grabbing” in a series of posts opposing him on X, in what was an apparent reference to Scott signing gun safety measures into law in 2018 when he was governor. That bill was in response to the horrific mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. As senator, Scott didn't sign onto a bipartisan federal gun safety bill in 2022, saying it didn’t do enough to protect due process.

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — A bipartisan coalition of House members want appropriators to prevent “unnecessary, wasteful and inhumane” dog and cat experimentation at the Defense Department as they negotiate the final version of the National Defense Authorization Act.

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) led a letter urging the inclusion of an amendment on the matter to the leaders of the Armed Services Committees in both chambers. The letter also includes Florida GOP Reps. Matt Gaetz and Greg Steube, and Democratic Reps. Lois Frankel, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick.

IN DANGER — Moskowitz faced a threat on his life recently, reports POLITICO’s Anthony Adragna. “In a statement posted to the social media site X, Moskowitz said the man had a rifle, suppressor and body armor. He also had a manifesto that included ‘antisemitic rhetoric’ and the Florida Democrat’s name on a ‘target’ list.”

OBAMACARE EXPANDS — The private health insurance marketplaces created under the Affordable Care Act are now available to immigrants through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, reports Joe Mario Pedersen of Central Florida Public Media.

...HURRICANE HOLE...

STATE OF PLAY — Lawsuits against property insurers declined for the second year in a row, reports Ron Hurtibise of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “The number of lawsuits filed against insurers during the first three quarters declined by 23.8 percent — from 36,639 to 27,923 — compared to the same period last year, according to data compiled from public records by Guy Carpenter & Company, a global reinsurance brokerage, and released to insurers in late October.”

— Duke Energy estimates its costs for restoring power after Hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton could reach $1.3 billion, per the News Service of Florida.

— “Florida's fishing industry struggles to recover after hurricanes,” by NPR’s Greg Allen.

— The hurricanes washed away numerous sea turtle nests this season, reports The Associated Press.

— Two earthquakes hit Cuba just after the island faced Hurricane Rafael and lost power, reports the Miami Herald.

ODDS, ENDS AND FLORIDA MEN

— More Florida influence: Steve Witkoff, a real estate investor with businesses in South Florida, has been named co-chair of the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee.

— Tallahassee celebrated its 200th anniversary on Sunday with the unveiling of a historical marker.

BIRTHDAYS: Tallahassee Democrat’s TaMaryn Waters ... author and Florida man chronicler Craig Pittman ... former Rep. Corrine Brown … Rene Rodriguez, manager of the Bill Cosford Cinema at the University of Miami.