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Washington — David Richardson, the appearing head of the Federal Emergency Administration Company (FEMA), is leaving his submit, the Division of Homeland Safety confirmed Monday. . Richardson submitted his resignation Monday morning, in accordance with 5 present and former homeland safety officers accustomed to the choice.
He served as FEMA’s “Senior Official Performing the Duties” of administrator since Could 8, 2025, when Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem abruptly eliminated his predecessor, Cameron Hamilton. Earlier than main FEMA, Richardson was Assistant Secretary for the Division of Homeland Safety’s Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Workplace.
FEMA chief of employees Karen Evans will step into his function beginning Dec. 1, a Division of Homeland Safety spokesperson mentioned.
From the outset, Richardson’s management type garnered consideration. In his first all-hands assembly he instructed company employees: “Do not get in my means … I’ll run proper over you,” and declared, “I and I alone communicate for FEMA.”
In a press release, a DHS spokesperson expressed their “appreciation” to Richardson and wished him “continued success in his return to the non-public sector,” and outlined among the issues he oversaw in his brief tenure on the helm of FEMA.
Richardson’s resignation comes amid mounting criticism over FEMA’s response to the devastating Ccentral Texas floods in July, which claimed greater than 130 lives, together with 27 campers and counselors at Camp Mystic on the Guadalupe River. Richardson was sharply criticized – together with by lawmakers on Capitol Hill – for being inaccessible in the course of the disaster, with FEMA officers telling CBS Information that the appearing administrator was unreachable for hours, complicating efforts to deploy search-and-rescue groups.
At a congressional listening to in July, Richardson defended FEMA’s efficiency as a “mannequin” of catastrophe response, disputing stories of delayed deployments and unanswered calls. He additionally denied there have been lapses in contracts for FEMA’s catastrophe assist line.
In a single broadly reported gaffe, Richardson additionally instructed colleagues he was unaware the U.S. has a hurricane season — feedback sources say raised critical considerations amongst seasoned emergency managers.
Critics—together with present and former FEMA workers—have additionally pointed to bureaucratic bottlenecks below Noem’s management, together with a directive that any expenditure over $100,000 require the DHS secretary’s private sign-off.
Richardson’s resignation lands at roughly the identical time that the FEMA Evaluate Council is anticipated to ship a sweeping report back to the president, outlining suggestions to restructure and reshape the company. The council’s work was ordered by the White Home to conduct a complete evaluation of FEMA’s efficiency in the course of the Biden administration and ship a proper report back to the president in November. President Trump has repeatedly signaled that FEMA “must be eradicated because it exists,” with Noem directing the council not merely to judge the company however to basically “reimagine” it.
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