Who knew? Turns out the folks at FEMA — the Federal Emergency Management Agency — watch “House of Cards” just like the rest of us. However, the disaster relief agency honchos are not happy about a storyline involving them that is featured in the hit Netflix show’s third season.
(By the way — here comes a spoiler alert!!)
Turns out Kevin Spacey’s President Frank Underwood has come up with a plot to find $$$ for his job-creation program named “America Works” by siphoning-off funds from FEMA. Spacey’s Underwood pulls this off by claiming under the Stafford Act, he has the authority to declare national disasters and emergencies — including how funds are allocated.
“The Stafford Act gives me full authority to define an emergency,” the President tells the head of FEMA on the show. According to Underwood, unemployment is a nationwide emergency on the same level as a hurricane or earthquake.
When the FEMA people heard about this they turned to Twitter to criticize that plot point.
“Hey, Frank Underwood: We’re not on board with claiming your own emergencies. #HouseofCards,” the organization tweeted Monday, along with a message outlining the ways the Stafford Act, passed in 1988, can actually be implemented.
However, after FEMA got push-back from “House of Cards” fans, who thought their tweet included a show spoiler (as warned above), FEMA tweeted, “Ha — tried not to give anything away. May need to consider posting a preemptive ‘spoiler alert’ tweet next time.”
