Four federal employees were fired Tuesday over payments to reimburse New York City for hotel costs for migrants, Department of Homeland Security officials said.
The workers are accused of circumventing leadership to make the transactions, which have been standard for years through a program that helps with costs to care for a surge in migration. However, officials did not give details on how the four had violated any policies.
On Monday, President Donald Trump's aide Elon Musk posted on X that his team had discovered payments used to house migrants in luxury hotels with money intended for disaster relief. Musk blasted the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is part of Homeland Security, and called the payments gross insubordination.
FEMA's acting administrator, Cameron Hamilton, later said the payments were suspended and the employees who authorized them would be held accountable.
The terminated employees were FEMA's chief financial officer, two program analysts and a grant