Embattled Acting FEMA Administrator Resigns Amid Furor over TX Flood Response

Acting FEMA administrator David Richardson couldn't be reached for more than 24 hours during deadly flooding in Texas in July.

Nov. 17, 2025

2 min read

James Osborne

Houston Chronicle

(TNS)

Nov. 17—The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency resigned Monday after pushback over his leadership, including the agency's response to flooding in Central Texas in July that left 130 people dead.

David Richardson had drawn repeated scrutiny during his time leading FEMA. Former staff had told news outlets that he did not seem fully aware of the hurricane season and once suggested Republican states should get disaster relief ahead of Democratic ones.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security commended Richardson's record with the agency and said FEMA Chief of Staff Karen Evans would take over the agency Dec. 1.

FEMA's search and rescue teams took more than 24 hours to arrive in Texas after state officials requested their help responding to the devastating flooding in the Hill Country, according to timelines provided by state and federal officials.

In the aftermath of the floods, Richardson was conspicuously absent as Trump and other federal officials toured the disaster area. He did not show up to the disaster area for more than a week, and when he did, there was no advance notice to media.

At a hearing in Washington in July, Republicans and Democrats questioned Richardson about why he hadn't immediately deployed search and rescue teams to Texas in anticipation of a request from the state.

Richardson, who had been on vacation at the time of the floods, defended his leadership and described the agency's response as a "model."

"I can't see anything we did wrong," he said at the hearing. "We would like to see the strengths we did in Texas and share them with other states."