FEMA Chief Quits in Disgust at Kristi Noem’s Texas Flood Response
Edith Olmsted
Tue, July 22, 2025
THE NEW REPUBLIC
The head of FEMA’s Urban Search and Rescue Branch has resigned, telling colleagues that the Trump administration’s disastrous response to the deadly flooding in Texas had driven him over the edge, CNN reported.
Ken Pagurek, who had worked in that branch for more than a decade, reportedly told colleagues that his departure Monday from FEMA had come after mounting frustrations with the Trump administration’s efforts to gut the disaster aid agency. But Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s pitifully delayed response to the flooding over the Fourth of July weekend was apparently the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Noem had severely botched FEMA’s Texas response by failing to renew contracts with companies staffing FEMA call centers, resulting in a majority of calls going unanswered for days as the floodwaters raged. The secretary dismissed the reporting as “fake news.”
She also reportedly delayed FEMA’s initial response by instituting a policy that required her to personally sign off on all DHS expenditures exceeding $100,000. FEMA officials, who were unaware of the new rule, didn’t receive Noem’s go-ahead for 72 hours.
In his resignation letter, Pagurek didn’t mention the floods at all. “This decision was not made lightly, and after much reflection and prayer, it is the right path for me at this time,” he wrote. “I have been continually inspired by the unwavering dedication, unmatched courage, and deep-seated commitment we share for saving lives and bringing hope in the face of devastation.”
One DHS spokesperson defended the response to the floods, while another criticized Pagurek’s decision, saying that it was “laughable that a career public employee, who claims to serve the American people, would choose to resign over our refusal to hastily approve a six-figure deployment contract without basic financial oversight.”
“We’re being responsible with taxpayer dollars, that’s our job,” the second spokesperson said.
Last month, Donald Trump said he plans to “phase out” FEMA after this year’s hurricane season, and future disbursements would come straight from him. “We’re going to give it out directly. It’ll be from the president’s office. We’ll have somebody here, could be Homeland Security,” Trump said at the time.
Clearly, putting Noem in charge of personally approving decisions in a disaster comes at a cost, and the Trump administration’s mismanagement of relief is more far-reaching than just the flooding in Texas.\
The head of FEMA’s Urban Search and Rescue Branch has resigned, telling colleagues that the Trump administration’s disastrous response to the deadly flooding in Texas had driven him over the edge, CNN reported.
Ken Pagurek, who had worked in that branch for more than a decade, reportedly told colleagues that his departure Monday from FEMA had come after mounting frustrations with the Trump administration’s efforts to gut the disaster aid agency. But Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s pitifully delayed response to the flooding over the Fourth of July weekend was apparently the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Noem had severely botched FEMA’s Texas response by failing to renew contracts with companies staffing FEMA call centers, resulting in a majority of calls going unanswered for days as the floodwaters raged. The secretary dismissed the reporting as “fake news.”
She also reportedly delayed FEMA’s initial response by instituting a policy that required her to personally sign off on all DHS expenditures exceeding $100,000. FEMA officials, who were unaware of the new rule, didn’t receive Noem’s go-ahead for 72 hours.
In his resignation letter, Pagurek didn’t mention the floods at all. “This decision was not made lightly, and after much reflection and prayer, it is the right path for me at this time,” he wrote. “I have been continually inspired by the unwavering dedication, unmatched courage, and deep-seated commitment we share for saving lives and bringing hope in the face of devastation.”
One DHS spokesperson defended the response to the floods, while another criticized Pagurek’s decision, saying that it was “laughable that a career public employee, who claims to serve the American people, would choose to resign over our refusal to hastily approve a six-figure deployment contract without basic financial oversight.”
“We’re being responsible with taxpayer dollars, that’s our job,” the second spokesperson said.
Last month, Donald Trump said he plans to “phase out” FEMA after this year’s hurricane season, and future disbursements would come straight from him. “We’re going to give it out directly. It’ll be from the president’s office. We’ll have somebody here, could be Homeland Security,” Trump said at the time.
Clearly, putting Noem in charge of personally approving decisions in a disaster comes at a cost, and the Trump administration’s mismanagement of relief is more far-reaching than just the flooding in Texas.\
Maddow Blog | Questions about FEMA’s future grow louder following its latest resignation
Steve Benen
Tue, July 22, 2025
Tue, July 22, 2025
MSNBC
Throughout his second term, Donald Trump’s line on the future of FEMA hasn’t left his administration with a lot of wiggle room: As far as the president is concerned, the agency’s days are numbered.
“FEMA is getting in the way of everything,” the Republican argued earlier this year, failing to explain what that meant. Trump soon after said he saw the agency as an unnecessary department that should be “TERMINATED.” Around the same time, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose Cabinet department oversees the emergency response agency, added, “We’re going to eliminate FEMA.”
But after the recent deadly flooding in Texas, the White House started hedging a bit on its plans, opening the door to an agency that might be overhauled but not necessarily “terminated.” Late last week, Noem even suggested that FEMA’s future would endure.
“What you saw happen in Texas was much more how FEMA will look in the future,” the South Dakota Republican said, as if the federal response to the Texas flooding was so impressive, it had established a model worthy of emulation going forward.
It appears that assessment has not been universally embraced within the agency. CNN reported that the head of FEMA’s Urban Search and Rescue branch resigned on Monday.
Ken Pagurek’s departure comes less than three weeks after a delayed FEMA response to catastrophic flooding in central Texas caused by bureaucratic hurdles put in place by the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the disaster response agency. Pagurek told colleagues at FEMA that the delay was the tipping point that led to his voluntary departure after months of frustration with the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the agency, according to two sources familiar with his thinking. It took more than 72 hours after the flooding for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to authorize the deployment of FEMA’s search and rescue network.
The report on Pagurek, who spent more than a decade with FEMA, has not been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News, though a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson responded to his departure in a curious way.
“It is laughable that a career public employee, who claims to serve the American people, would choose to resign over our refusal to hastily approve a six-figure deployment contract without basic financial oversight,” a DHS spokesperson told CNN in a statement about Pagurek’s resignation. “We’re being responsible with taxpayer dollars, that’s our job.”
Of course, this wasn’t much of a denial about concerns reportedly voiced by a resigning senior FEMA official.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
Noem's DHS Slams FEMA Rescue Chief's Resignation As 'Laughable' In Wake Of Texas Flood Disaster
Pocharapon Neammanee
Wed, July 23, 2025
Kristi Noem's Department of Homeland Security slams FEMA Urban Search and Rescue chief resignation as "laughable." Spencer Platt via Getty Images
“This decision was not made lightly, and after much reflection and prayer, it is the right path for me at this time,” Pagurek wrote in a resignation letter obtained by CNN. “I have been continually inspired by the unwavering dedication, unmatched courage, and deep-seated commitment we share for saving lives and bringing hope in the face of devastation.”
The letter did not mention Texas, but two sources familiar with Pagurek’s decision told CNN that DHS obstacles to FEMA’s response during the flooding in Texas on July 4 was Pagurek’s breaking point.
Last month, President Donald Trump said he would start “phasing out” FEMA at the end of this year’s hurricane season in order to reduce federal spending, calling the agency “very, very expensive.”
The New York Times previously reported that nearly two-thirds of calls to FEMA’s disaster assistance line went unanswered in the days following the flood after Noem failed to renew call center contracts. It took five days until after the disaster to reinstate the contracts because Noem needed to sign off on the contracts, which amounted to more than $100,000.
Noem dismissed the Times report as “fake news.”
The Texas flood death toll has risen to at least 135 people, with 107 deaths in Kerr County and three people who remain missing.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson defended the agency’s response to the Texas floods in a statement to HuffPost on Wednesday and scoffed at Pagurek’s decision.
“It is laughable that a career public employee, who claims to serve the American people, would choose to resign over our refusal to hastily approve a six-figure deployment contract without basic financial oversight,” the statement read. “We’re being responsible with taxpayer dollars, that’s our job. Attempting to spin a personal career decision into some big scandal is ridiculous.”
DHS claimed that FEMA “experienced no delays in deployment of assets, and Texas officials have unequivocally and vocally applauded the federal government and FEMA’s response.”
The statement concluded, “If anyone is upset by the end of unchecked, blank-check spending under President Trump’s administration, that says more about them than it does about us.”
Throughout his second term, Donald Trump’s line on the future of FEMA hasn’t left his administration with a lot of wiggle room: As far as the president is concerned, the agency’s days are numbered.
“FEMA is getting in the way of everything,” the Republican argued earlier this year, failing to explain what that meant. Trump soon after said he saw the agency as an unnecessary department that should be “TERMINATED.” Around the same time, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose Cabinet department oversees the emergency response agency, added, “We’re going to eliminate FEMA.”
But after the recent deadly flooding in Texas, the White House started hedging a bit on its plans, opening the door to an agency that might be overhauled but not necessarily “terminated.” Late last week, Noem even suggested that FEMA’s future would endure.
“What you saw happen in Texas was much more how FEMA will look in the future,” the South Dakota Republican said, as if the federal response to the Texas flooding was so impressive, it had established a model worthy of emulation going forward.
It appears that assessment has not been universally embraced within the agency. CNN reported that the head of FEMA’s Urban Search and Rescue branch resigned on Monday.
Ken Pagurek’s departure comes less than three weeks after a delayed FEMA response to catastrophic flooding in central Texas caused by bureaucratic hurdles put in place by the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the disaster response agency. Pagurek told colleagues at FEMA that the delay was the tipping point that led to his voluntary departure after months of frustration with the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the agency, according to two sources familiar with his thinking. It took more than 72 hours after the flooding for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to authorize the deployment of FEMA’s search and rescue network.
The report on Pagurek, who spent more than a decade with FEMA, has not been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News, though a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson responded to his departure in a curious way.
“It is laughable that a career public employee, who claims to serve the American people, would choose to resign over our refusal to hastily approve a six-figure deployment contract without basic financial oversight,” a DHS spokesperson told CNN in a statement about Pagurek’s resignation. “We’re being responsible with taxpayer dollars, that’s our job.”
Of course, this wasn’t much of a denial about concerns reportedly voiced by a resigning senior FEMA official.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
Noem's DHS Slams FEMA Rescue Chief's Resignation As 'Laughable' In Wake Of Texas Flood Disaster
Pocharapon Neammanee
Wed, July 23, 2025
HUFFPOST
The Department of Homeland Securityslammed FEMA’s former urban search and rescue chief after reports said his recent resignation was due to the Trump administration imposing policies that delayed disaster response to the deadly flood that devastated Texas earlier this month.
Sources familiar with the resignation told The New York Timesthat Ken Pagurek, who stepped down on Monday, first expressed concerns over the administration’s changes causing disruptions since the start of hurricane season.
Pagurek was especially concerned with a new policy that required Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to personally sign off on contracts or grants for more than $100,000.
The Department of Homeland Securityslammed FEMA’s former urban search and rescue chief after reports said his recent resignation was due to the Trump administration imposing policies that delayed disaster response to the deadly flood that devastated Texas earlier this month.
Sources familiar with the resignation told The New York Timesthat Ken Pagurek, who stepped down on Monday, first expressed concerns over the administration’s changes causing disruptions since the start of hurricane season.
Pagurek was especially concerned with a new policy that required Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to personally sign off on contracts or grants for more than $100,000.
Kristi Noem's Department of Homeland Security slams FEMA Urban Search and Rescue chief resignation as "laughable." Spencer Platt via Getty Images
“This decision was not made lightly, and after much reflection and prayer, it is the right path for me at this time,” Pagurek wrote in a resignation letter obtained by CNN. “I have been continually inspired by the unwavering dedication, unmatched courage, and deep-seated commitment we share for saving lives and bringing hope in the face of devastation.”
The letter did not mention Texas, but two sources familiar with Pagurek’s decision told CNN that DHS obstacles to FEMA’s response during the flooding in Texas on July 4 was Pagurek’s breaking point.
Last month, President Donald Trump said he would start “phasing out” FEMA at the end of this year’s hurricane season in order to reduce federal spending, calling the agency “very, very expensive.”
The New York Times previously reported that nearly two-thirds of calls to FEMA’s disaster assistance line went unanswered in the days following the flood after Noem failed to renew call center contracts. It took five days until after the disaster to reinstate the contracts because Noem needed to sign off on the contracts, which amounted to more than $100,000.
Noem dismissed the Times report as “fake news.”
The Texas flood death toll has risen to at least 135 people, with 107 deaths in Kerr County and three people who remain missing.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson defended the agency’s response to the Texas floods in a statement to HuffPost on Wednesday and scoffed at Pagurek’s decision.
“It is laughable that a career public employee, who claims to serve the American people, would choose to resign over our refusal to hastily approve a six-figure deployment contract without basic financial oversight,” the statement read. “We’re being responsible with taxpayer dollars, that’s our job. Attempting to spin a personal career decision into some big scandal is ridiculous.”
DHS claimed that FEMA “experienced no delays in deployment of assets, and Texas officials have unequivocally and vocally applauded the federal government and FEMA’s response.”
The statement concluded, “If anyone is upset by the end of unchecked, blank-check spending under President Trump’s administration, that says more about them than it does about us.”
Watch: Acting FEMA director testifies before House on improving disaster response
The Hill Staff
Wed, July 23, 2025
David Richardson, acting director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) testified before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Wednesday morning on ways to improve disaster response.
Richardson did not visit the site of the floods in the days that followed
From deadly wildfires in Los Angeles earlier this year to the recent record flooding in Texas and hurricane season, the Trump administration has faced criticism over the nation’s federal response efforts. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem and President Trump had for months been pushing to dismantle FEMA but have since shifted their tone to suggest it needs to be reformed rather than completely axed.
Cuts to the federal workforce, including those tasked with predicting weather and natural disasters, have also been under the microscope.
The hearing was scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. EDT.
Watch the video replay above.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved.
Future of FEMA uncertain as lawmakers question agency leadership
Meg Hilling
Wed, July 23, 2025
NEWS NATION
(NewsNation) — Acting FEMA Director David Richardson testified Wednesday that the response to devastating floods that swept through central Texas was a model for how disaster response should happen in the future. That testimony was met with criticism as the future of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is unclear.
Rep. Greg Stanton (D-AZ) was among those who said Richardson’s response to the disaster was inadequate. “For the first 48 hours, the most critical window for search and rescue, he never visited the national response coordination center. For more than week he stayed away from Texas, and for ten days he made no statement about this tragedy,” Stanton said.
The comments came as Richardson testified before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee about FEMA and changes that could be coming.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and President Trump have previously said FEMA should be dismantled, but recently have indicated it might be better to reform FEMA than eliminate the agency.
Richardson gives 3 steps for FEMA change
In the hearing, Richardson identified three initial steps the agency should take to initiate change. The first, he said, is the removal of bureaucratic “red tape” he argues has delayed “timely and effective delivery of lifesaving or life sustaining assistance.”
Live: Texas lawmakers begin investigation into flood response
Richardson’s second step focused on the establishment of a disaster response and recovery model that is locally led and state-managed, with federal support available when needed.
“The original intent of FEMA was to help state, local, tribal, and territorial partners build their disaster resilience, response, and recovery capabilities, and to provide resources when they are overwhelmed by the scope of a disaster,” Richardson said. “FEMA lost sight of this original intent.”
The third step was geared towards leveraging technology to increase “our partners’ operational readiness.”
Lawmakers share frustrations with FEMA
In response to Richardson’s commentary, lawmakers cited concern with previous FEMA restructuring efforts, as well as its leadership.
“Over the years, Congress has passed reform after reform trying to fix FEMA and get federal disaster response to work effectively. Quite honestly, little seems to work,” Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) said. “Congress passes something intended to fix disaster response, but bureaucrats continue to complicate the law with added regulations.”
FEMA’s flood maps often miss dangerous flash flood risks, leaving homeowners unprepared
Perry voiced his support for states taking the lead in preparing for, mitigating against and responding to disasters, making it clear that something needs to change.
“In 2045, we do not want to see congressional hearings asking why disasters that happened in 2025 are still open,” Perry said. “The longer it takes for communities to rebuild, no matter who’s paying, the higher the costs and the more vulnerable those communities are to additional harm from other hazards.”
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
FEMA leader defends agency response to Texas floods
Rachel Frazin
Wed, July 23, 2025
David Richardson, acting leader of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), on Wednesday defended his agency’s response to deadly Texas floods despite pushback from lawmakers.
During a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing, Richardson said he “can’t see anything” FEMA did wrong in its response to the July 4 floods that killed 135 people.
His comments come despite bipartisan criticism and news reports suggesting the agency was slow to act and that the Trump administration’s austere policies delayed response times.
In particular point of contention in the hearing was a New York Times report that said call center contractors were laid off after their contracts ended July 5. On July 6, FEMA answered only 35.8 percent of calls, according to the Times, while on July 7, it answered only 15.9 percent.
Richardson called the report “fake news” and said “the vast majority of phone calls were answered.”
The article, one of several that raised questions about the Trump administration’s response to the Texas floods, pointed to a new policy that reportedly requires Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem herself to approve expenses more than $100,000. CNN reported Noem didn’t authorize FEMA’s urban search and rescue teams until three days after the flooding began.
Meanwhile, Richardson did not visit the site of the floods in the days that followed it, according to E&E News.
He told lawmakers Wednesday there had been an urban search and rescue team “on the deck” in Texas on July 4 but that it took the state several days to request assistance.
“The disaster declaration didn’t come in until Sunday, and then Monday they requested and the support was there within 24 hours.”
Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) responded that 24 hours “seems like a long time to wait” and asked whether that was standard.
“They get there as quickly as possible,” Richardson responded, adding that those particular teams came from Colorado and Missouri.
He said that on July 4, he was on vacation, but he returned the next day.
“I spent the entire vacation in my vehicle speaking on my phone either to the state of Texas or [the Department of Homeland Security] coordinating for the events in Texas,” he said.
Overall, Richardson described the agency’s response to the Texas flooding as “a model of how response should be done.”
Michael Coen, FEMA’s chief of staff during the Obama and Biden administrations, disagreed.
“The FEMA administrator should have been there as the face of the federal government coordinating immediately after the event,” Coen said.
The criticism of FEMA comes as the broader agency may be in the administration’s crosshairs. President Trump and Noem have floated eliminating the agency, though in recent weeks, their rhetoric has moved more toward reform rather than absolute abolition.
The administration fired Richardson’s predecessor Cameron Hamilton after he appeared before Congress in May and said eliminating FEMA is not “in the best interest of the American people.”
Asked during the hearing Wednesday whether FEMA will continue to exist, Richardson did not give a direct answer.
“What I can commit to is that the president wants a better emergency management for the American people,” he said.
“Does that mean FEMA is gone and there will be something new and different?” Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) followed up.
Richardson pointed to the creation of the FEMA review council.
“So the answer is blowing in the wind,” Garamendi replied. “We do not know, and you cannot confirm that it is the policy of the administration to maintain FEMA.”
Richardson’s opening statement, however, described an effort that “narrowed FEMA’s focus.” In particular, he said the agency should keep people safe, allow states to take the lead and strengthen the ability of states, local governments, tribes and territories to respond.
He was similarly evasive when asked whether he agrees with the scientific consensus that climate change is primarily driven by human activity and fossil fuel use.
“We will address disasters regardless of their origin,” he said.
Asked a follow-up by Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) about whether the frequency and severity of U.S. disasters were increasing, Richardson said, “What I believe is regardless of whether they’re increasing or not, that FEMA is there to assist the American public … in disaster response and recovery.”
During the hearing, Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.) previewed forthcoming bipartisan legislation that would make changes to FEMA.
“Our bill will restore FEMA to being an independent, cabinet level agency, create a new public assistance program that gives incentives to states to prioritize resilience and rebuild quickly, improve FEMA’s individual assistance program for disaster survivors by creating a universal application for federal assistance … and restructure FEMA’s mitigation programs to make funding accessible with greater speed and reliability,” he said.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved.
FEMA chief rejects criticism, calls Texas floods response 'a model' for dealing with disaster
GABRIELA AOUN ANGUEIRA
Wed, July 23, 2025
AP
FILE - Rain falls as Irene Valdez visits a make-shift memorial for flood victims along the Guadalupe River, Sunday, July 13, 2025, in Kerrville, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
The acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is pushing back on criticisms of the federal response to the central Texas floods that killed at least 136 people earlier this month.
“I can't see anything we did wrong,” David Richardson told a House panel of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on Wednesday. He called the relationship between state and federal agencies “a model for how disasters should be handled.”
Lawmakers used the hearing about improvements to FEMA disaster response to address reports that FEMA support was impaired by bureaucratic delays that slowed the deployment of urban search and rescue teams and left the agency's call centers unstaffed, which Richardson denied. The response "brought the maximum amount of capability to bear in Texas at the right time and the right place,” he said.
Richardson's appearance came after a wave of criticism and fallout over the response, including the resignation Monday of FEMA's urban search and rescue leader. President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have touted the robust federal support for Texas despite their past support for eliminating FEMA.
Reports of delays on the ground denied
The acting administrator denied reports that FEMA urban search-and-rescue teams were delayed over 72 hours because of a new rule imposed by Noem that she must personally approve any contract of $100,000 or more. Richardson said a Texas-based FEMA task force was on the ground on July 4, along with other Homeland Security assets like the Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection, and that additional support came within “24 hours” of being requested.
Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., pushed back on FEMA's readiness, asking why more of the 28 FEMA urban search-and-rescue teams located around the country were not on standby ahead of receiving a request from the state of Texas. “It haunts me that we could have had more urban search and rescue pre-positioned in place,” said Stanton. “That was a choice.”
The leader of FEMA's urban search-and-rescue effort, Ken Pagurek, expressed frustration with the delays to colleagues before resigning Monday, according to CNN. In response to Pagurek's resignation, a DHS spokesperson told The Associated Press, “It is laughable that a career public employee, who claims to serve the American people, would choose to resign over our refusal to hastily approve a six-figure deployment contract without basic financial oversight."
The Texas Division of Emergency Management did not respond to a request for comment on whether search-and-rescue efforts were impacted by delayed deployment of the FEMA teams.
Richardson also denied a report from The New York Times that 84% of calls to FEMA went unanswered on July 7, three days after the July 4 floods, because Noem let lapse contract renewals with outside call centers. The contracts were renewed July 10, according to The Times.
“The vast majority of phone calls were answered. There was never a lapse in the contract,” said Richardson, echoing Noem's statements that the report was “fake news.”
Richardson defended his absence from the ground efforts in Texas, saying he worked from Washington, D.C., “to kick down the doors of bureaucracy” and denying suggestions that Donald Trump or Noem told him to stand down. He did not visit Texas until July 12.
FEMA's fate is still in question
Since the Texas floods, Trump has deflected questions about FEMA’s fate. In June, he said he wanted to begin “phasing out” FEMA after the hurricane season “to wean off of FEMA and bring it to the state level.”
Trump has been criticized for delaying decisions on disaster declaration requests, causing some states to wait as long as two months for approval to receive assistance to repair public infrastructure or help survivors.
FILE - Rain falls as Irene Valdez visits a make-shift memorial for flood victims along the Guadalupe River, Sunday, July 13, 2025, in Kerrville, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
The acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is pushing back on criticisms of the federal response to the central Texas floods that killed at least 136 people earlier this month.
“I can't see anything we did wrong,” David Richardson told a House panel of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on Wednesday. He called the relationship between state and federal agencies “a model for how disasters should be handled.”
Lawmakers used the hearing about improvements to FEMA disaster response to address reports that FEMA support was impaired by bureaucratic delays that slowed the deployment of urban search and rescue teams and left the agency's call centers unstaffed, which Richardson denied. The response "brought the maximum amount of capability to bear in Texas at the right time and the right place,” he said.
Richardson's appearance came after a wave of criticism and fallout over the response, including the resignation Monday of FEMA's urban search and rescue leader. President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have touted the robust federal support for Texas despite their past support for eliminating FEMA.
Reports of delays on the ground denied
The acting administrator denied reports that FEMA urban search-and-rescue teams were delayed over 72 hours because of a new rule imposed by Noem that she must personally approve any contract of $100,000 or more. Richardson said a Texas-based FEMA task force was on the ground on July 4, along with other Homeland Security assets like the Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection, and that additional support came within “24 hours” of being requested.
Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., pushed back on FEMA's readiness, asking why more of the 28 FEMA urban search-and-rescue teams located around the country were not on standby ahead of receiving a request from the state of Texas. “It haunts me that we could have had more urban search and rescue pre-positioned in place,” said Stanton. “That was a choice.”
The leader of FEMA's urban search-and-rescue effort, Ken Pagurek, expressed frustration with the delays to colleagues before resigning Monday, according to CNN. In response to Pagurek's resignation, a DHS spokesperson told The Associated Press, “It is laughable that a career public employee, who claims to serve the American people, would choose to resign over our refusal to hastily approve a six-figure deployment contract without basic financial oversight."
The Texas Division of Emergency Management did not respond to a request for comment on whether search-and-rescue efforts were impacted by delayed deployment of the FEMA teams.
Richardson also denied a report from The New York Times that 84% of calls to FEMA went unanswered on July 7, three days after the July 4 floods, because Noem let lapse contract renewals with outside call centers. The contracts were renewed July 10, according to The Times.
“The vast majority of phone calls were answered. There was never a lapse in the contract,” said Richardson, echoing Noem's statements that the report was “fake news.”
Richardson defended his absence from the ground efforts in Texas, saying he worked from Washington, D.C., “to kick down the doors of bureaucracy” and denying suggestions that Donald Trump or Noem told him to stand down. He did not visit Texas until July 12.
FEMA's fate is still in question
Since the Texas floods, Trump has deflected questions about FEMA’s fate. In June, he said he wanted to begin “phasing out” FEMA after the hurricane season “to wean off of FEMA and bring it to the state level.”
Trump has been criticized for delaying decisions on disaster declaration requests, causing some states to wait as long as two months for approval to receive assistance to repair public infrastructure or help survivors.
Lawmakers pressed Richardson on more general issues of FEMA reform as well, including concerns over long overdue preparedness grant funding, flood insurance and rules about how much financial assistance survivors can receive.
Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers asked about the fate of the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, which Trump canceled earlier this year. The grants supplied hundreds of millions of dollars in disaster mitigation funding. Twenty states are now suing the administration over the loss of funds.
On Tuesday, Trump approved disaster declaration requests for Michigan, Oregon, Indiana, Kansas, West Virginia, Missouri and New Mexico and expanded assistance in Kentucky.
Rep. Bob Onder, R-Mo., asked Richardson why it took a month for his state to get a disaster declaration. “My constituents were frustrated by how long it takes to get temporary housing and debris removal assistance," Onder said. Richardson referred back to Texas' declaration request: “We turned that around within just a couple hours.”
A Trump-appointed FEMA review council is in the process of crafting recommendations to the president on changes to the agency. Noem, who co-chairs the council, told its members five days after the Texas floods that FEMA “needs to be eliminated as it exists today and remade as a responsive agency.”
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