The new head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the United States has warned his staff that he will not tolerate any resistance to President Donald Trump’s agenda for the organisation.
Friday was the first full day of David Richardson’s leadership at FEMA, after the agency saw a shake-up at its helm earlier this week. But he began his tenure as head with a stark warning for the agency.
“I — and I alone in FEMA — speak for FEMA. I’m here to carry out the president’s intent for FEMA,” he reportedly told staff in an agency-wide call.
He predicted that 20 percent of the staff would oppose Trump’s vision for the FEMA, which he has pledged to dismantle.
“Obfuscation, delay, undermining. If you’re one of those 20 percent of people and you think those tactics and techniques are going to help you, they will not, because I will run right over you,” Richardson said.
“Don’t get in my way,” he added. “I know all the tricks.”
FEMA is the agency charged with coordinating and carrying out the federal government’s response to natural disasters and other emergencies, ranging from hurricanes and flooding to domestic attacks.
But it has long been criticised for lagging response times, inadequate resources and disorganisation, particularly during major disasters like 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, which displaced tens of thousands of residents in Louisiana and killed more than 1,300 people.
Trump has responded to such criticisms by pledging to do away with FEMA altogether and redistributing its functions to individual states.
“ When there’s a problem with the state, I think that that problem should be taken care of by the state,” Trump said in January. “That’s what we have states for. They take care of problems. And a governor can handle something very quickly, you know?”
During his campaign for re-election in 2024, he also spread falsehoods about the agency, including that it had refused to offer relief to Republican residents in North Carolina, which had recently suffered widespread flooding from Hurricane Helene.
Since taking office in January, Trump has followed through with his plans to restructure the federal government, reducing the funding and staff to independent entities like the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
Trump and his allies have framed the cuts as necessary to combat “fraud” and “waste” across the government, though he has not offered definitive proof of wrongdoing.
At FEMA, an estimated 2,000 employees were terminated or accepted buyout offers to resign. A 2023 Government Accountability Office report indicated that FEMA only had 5,000 full-time staff members, as well as a group of reservists and emergency-response workers who could be called up to address a crisis.
To become the administrator of FEMA requires undergoing a Senate confirmation hearing and a vote.
But while those Senate hearings continue for high-level government positions, Trump has named interim leaders to govern the organisation in the meantime.
Cameron Hamilton, a former Navy SEAL, served in that role since Trump started his second term.
He had been a prominent critic of FEMA during the administration of former President Joe Biden. But his time as FEMA chief came to an abrupt halt earlier this week, in the wake of an appearance before an appropriations subcommittee in the House of Representatives.
At Wednesday’s hearing, a Democratic Representative, Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, asked Hamilton about the idea that FEMA could be shuttered.
Hamilton responded with measured opposition. “I do not believe it is in the best interest of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” he said.
He added that it was ultimately not his decision to make and criticised FEMA as part of an “overextended federal bureaucracy”.
“I’m not in a position to make decisions and impact outcomes on whether or not a determination such as consequential as that should be made. That is a conversation that should be had between the president of the United States and this governing body,” Hamilton told the committee.
But the very next day, Hamilton was removed from his role as FEMA’s interim head and replaced by Richardson, a Marine veteran.
On Friday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Hamilton’s removal was related to his testimony at the subcommittee hearing.
“My understanding is that this individual testified saying something that was contrary to what the President believes and the goals of this administration in regards to FEMA policy,” Leavitt said. “And so, of course, we want to make sure that people in every position are advancing the administration’s goals.”
Critics, including Representative DeLauro, blasted the switch-up as indicative of a White House that will not tolerate dissent, even when necessary.
“The Trump administration must explain why [Hamilton] has been removed from this position,” DeLauro said in a statement. “Integrity and morality should not cost you your job.”
Richardson, meanwhile, has proceeded to set a stricter tone for his tenure, with his fiery Friday phone call. He warned FEMA staff that any actions not “within our missions” would be considered a waste of taxpayer funds.
“We’re going to find out how to do things better. We’re going to find out how to push things down to the states that should be done at state level. Also we’re going to find out how we can do more cost-sharing with the states,” he said.
Trump has been criticised for denying requests for assistance, including from Republican-led states like Arkansas, which suffered tornadoes during the week of March 14, destroying neighbourhoods. Multiple deaths were reported.
Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders — who worked as Trump’s press secretary during his first term — has written to the president to appeal his denial of aid.
“Since 2023, Arkansas has experienced an unprecedented frequency of disasters, with four federally declared disasters and ten state-declared disasters. These overlapping events have severely strained the capacity of state and local agencies to respond and recover effectively,” Huckabee Sanders wrote.
“Many Arkansans are still living in temporary conditions or repairing damages from previous events, only to be displaced or impacted once again. The state and its citizens are in dire need of assistance to recover, rebuild, and mitigate further loss.”
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