House Republicans are investigating the Biden administration’s response to the deadly Maui fires, questioning aspects of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s handling of the catastrophe which left nearly 100 people dead and dozens missing,

Republicans on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee and the Subcommittee on Government Operations sent a letter to FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell on Friday asking for a detailed description of how much aid the agency has provided, plans for housing federal responders, and how Hawaiians who lost their home doing the fires are being housed.

“The deadly wildfire in Maui shocked the nation and left many, especially those directly impacted by the tragedy, with serious questions that remain unanswered today. President Biden built his entire reputation on empathy and compassion but failed to deliver an appropriate response when it mattered most. To ensure locals are receiving the assistance they need, and taxpayer dollars being used effectively, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability is taking action and seeking information from FEMA on all ongoing recovery efforts in Maui,” committee chair Rep. James Comer (R-KY) and Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) said in a statement.

In the letter, Comer and Sessions said that there had been reports of Hawaiians whose help was delayed because the FEMA responders lacked knowledge or authority to make decisions and red tape had slowed down the process. 

“Residents expressed frustration after waiting in line for considerable periods of time only to be given a number and told to call a different FEMA official. In other instances, they had been instructed to provide certain documentation, only to be told still more information would be required in order to receive benefits. We appreciate and share the desire to protect taxpayer interests, but we also encourage FEMA to streamline processes to the extent possible,” the lawmakers said.  

The lawmakers also asked Chriswell to respond to reports of FEMA employees staying in luxury hotels, asking for FEMA to give context for why house federal employees were housed. FEMA has previously responded by saying that the hotels in question had wanted to help and that the government workers needed somewhere to say while on the island. 

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While initial reports indicated that the fires had claimed the lives of 115 people with hundreds missing, the numbers were just revised to show that 97 people were killed and only 31 people reported missing. 

“That number dropped a little bit because the Department of Defense and all of their physical anthropologists were able to help us discern better who was in cars or in houses,” Governor Josh Green (D-HI) said. “So thank God, fewer people have passed away.”

Federal and state officials have been criticized for their response to the fires, which was the deadliest series of fires in years. President Joe Biden’s public response when asked about the fires was “no comment.”

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass says her city welcomes illegal aliens, yet she admits she is afraid they could be airlifted into her city by the planeload at any moment.

On Thursday, Bass — the mayor of a soon-to-be Sanctuary City — stated, “We live in a city that welcomes immigrants, and so I think we have been able to handle it, but I am fearful that any day, planes could start coming.”

Bass was referring to busloads and planes of illegal aliens sent by Governors Greg Abbott (R-TX) and Ron DeSantis (R-FL) to liberal cities and districts in recent years. What Bass, and other liberals, neglect is that the Biden administration has shipped illegal immigrants around the country as well via taxpayer-funded flights, as exposed by The Daily Wire.

LA Mayor Karen Bass welcomed the idea of her city being known as a Sanctuary City. Now she's terrified.

"I am fearful that any day planes with migrants could start coming."

Abbott, DeSantis — send every plane you got.
pic.twitter.com/xBC9cKKzl4

— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) September 15, 2023

Bass’ comments come weeks after she said, “L.A. has not extended an invitation asking for people to come.” It should be noted that the Democratic mayor and other elected officials did indeed offer an inviting hand earlier this year when Abbott began sending illegal aliens to their city.

“Los Angeles is not a city motivated by hate or fear and we absolutely will not be swayed or moved by petty politicians playing with human lives,” Bass said after the first busload came to L.A. “We are a city that seeks to treat all people with dignity and compassion and we will continue to work closely with non-profit organizations, including the L.A. Welcomes Collective, as well as with our County, State, and Federal partners.”

On Thursday, the mayor claimed that the transportation of the foreign nationals was politically motivated.

“What they’re trying to do is destabilize cities,” she said. “It’s the narrative that these are Democratic-run cities and that we don’t know how to govern and that everything is chaotic here.”

Of course, conservative officials are sending illegal immigrants to these cities because they either declared themselves to be “sanctuaries” and/or overwhelmingly voted for President Joe Biden — whose policies have proven that the Left doesn’t “know how to govern and that everything is chaotic” at the border — to steal a phrase from the mayor. Democrat cities had already had the reputation of being a disorganized and dangerous mess long before Abbott ever started sending the buses.

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The sad part is that if Bass truly wanted to stop this problem, she would convince the Biden administration to deport the illegal aliens, build a wall, and implement other security measures. Bass’ party colleagues on the other side of the country have no interest in doing that.

Instead, the Left’s solution to this crisis is more federal funding and freebies offered. Now, it looks like their voters know that isn’t going to solve anything. On Friday, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) heard that message loud and clear as residents of the Big Apple shouted her and other New York City Democrats down.

Wow! New Yorkers are MAD at their failed Democrat leaders.

AOC gets shouted down by protestors angry over illegal immigrant crisis ravaging the city:

“Close the border!!”pic.twitter.com/yvMWMGivml

— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) September 15, 2023

As readers can hear, the voters’ desire was loud and clear: Close the border, send them home. 

The mayor of Los Angeles needs to hear that message as well. But, the American people are all too wise to think that elected officials will actually listen and follow through on doing what’s necessary to secure the border.

And so, the protests will fall on deaf ears, the border will remain open, and it seems likely the buses and the planes will continue.

Bass and her ilk have nobody to blame but themselves — they voted for and continue to support the policies and politicians that created this situation in the first place.

The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.