Acting FEMA administrator is out, injecting uncertainty at agency in limbo

By SCOTT DANCE and MAXINE JOSELOW

David Richardson has resigned as acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, injecting even greater uncertainty into the Trump administration’s plans to overhaul the federal role in disaster response.

Karen Evans, a senior political appointee at FEMA who earlier this year led an overhaul of the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, will take over as acting FEMA administrator Dec. 1, according to the Homeland Security Department, which oversees both agencies.

Evans, like Richardson, lacks experience in emergency management, which is a legal requirement to lead FEMA.

Evans has played a central role in the Trump administration’s efforts to cut costs at FEMA, according to three people briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.

Earlier this year, Evans rejected many FEMA spending requests before they could reach the desk of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who has imposed a requirement that she personally approve any expense over $100,000, the three people said.

Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Homeland Security Department, said Richardson was returning to the private sector and thanked him for his work “refocusing the agency to deliver swift resources to Americans in crisis.”

President Donald Trump has suggested eliminating or overhauling FEMA, with an eye toward shifting more responsibility for disaster response to the states. The administration is expected to release a report in the coming weeks detailing its plans to reshape FEMA’s role in disasters across the country.

That report “will inform this administration’s ongoing efforts to fundamentally restructure FEMA, transforming it from its current form into a streamlined, mission-focused disaster-response force,” McLaughlin said in a statement.

Evans, who had worked in the first Trump administration, was previously national director of the U.S. Cyber Challenge, a private initiative focused on building the country’s cybersecurity workforce, and worked in information technology for her own company, according to her LinkedIn profile. She served as the chief information officer at the Office of Management and Budget during the George W. Bush administration.

Richardson, who served in the Marines, was named to the role of acting FEMA administrator in May, replacing Cameron Hamilton, who was pushed out a day after telling members of Congress that FEMA was vital to communities “in their greatest times of need” and should not be eliminated. His resignation was first reported by The Washington Post.

When he was tapped for FEMA, Richardson was the assistant secretary at the Homeland Security Department’s office for countering weapons of mass destruction. Richardson maintained both jobs.

After Richardson joined FEMA, some of his employees expressed concern about his lack of experience. He told employees in June that he did not know the United States had a hurricane season — a comment that unnerved FEMA employees who heard it. The agency later said Richardson was joking.

On his first full day as acting administrator, Richardson told the agency’s employees that if any of them tried to obstruct his agenda, “I will run right over you.”

In a statement responding to Richardson’s resignation, Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said, “good riddance.”

“Americans deserve a FEMA leader with at least the most basic core competencies in emergency management, something David Richardson never demonstrated,” Pallone said.