Top Democrats on three House committees are investigating former Federal Emergency Management Agency contractor Kara Voorhies, examining whether she broke strict rules about reviewing contracts at the agency.
NOTUS previously reported that Voorhies, who advised Corey Lewandowski, a top adviser to former Secretary Kristi Noem, played an outsized role in spending, often deciding which vendors were sent for final contract approval. House Republicans began looking into her work in March.
Now, the ranking Democrats on the House Homeland Security, Oversight, and Transportation and Infrastructure committees have officially opened an investigation into her role.
The Department of Homeland Security is facing increasing scrutiny over whether it abused its vast spending authority under Noem’s leadership. Lewandowski and his associates, including Voorhies, are the focus of investigations from members of Congress on both sides of the aisle. The DHS inspector general is also auditing the agency’s contracting decisions, according to the New York Times.
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In a letter first obtained by NOTUS, the committees’ ranking members cited a federal law prohibiting government contractors from awarding and terminating contracts.
“It appears that like Mr. Lewandowski, Ms. Voorhies was corruptly profiting from a position that gave her an outsized and undue influence over decision-making at FEMA,” the members continued.
The letter also references a deposition given by Karen Evans, the acting FEMA administrator, who said she copied Voorhies on all communications to DHS headquarters regarding FEMA.
DHS and Voorhies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
As part of their investigation, the committees are requesting that DHS provide “all documents and communications concerning Ms. Voorhies’s involvement in FEMA” decisions, “including routing sheets bearing her name or title and policies concerning routing requests through Ms. Voorhies.”
They are also requesting communications, including social media messages, and Signal chats, between Voorhies and FEMA employees, contractors, and advisers that dealt with personnel decisions, contracting decisions, or FEMA operations. Finally, they are asking for “all documents and communications concerning Ms. Voorhies’s hiring as a contractor, placement at FEMA, roles and responsibilities, and compensation.”
This story has been updated to clarify that Democrats are investigating Voorhies, but do not have the power to formally open a committee investigation.
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