Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty/DHS
Donald Trump’s FEMA chief left his staff scratching their heads when he said he was unaware that the U.S. has a hurricane season.
David Richardson, acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, sparked confusion and concern among staff after making the comment during a Monday all-hands meeting, according to four sources who spoke to Reuters.
Richardson’s remark came right on the heels of hurricane season, which started June 1 and lasts until November 30. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration earlier predicted an “above-normal” season that is likely to see 6 to 10 hurricanes, three to five of which could be classified as major.
It was unclear to staff whether Richardson’s quip was just a joke, Reuters reported.
FEMA’s parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, maintained that it was.
“Despite mean-spirited attempts to falsely frame a joke as policy, there is no uncertainty about what FEMA will be doing this hurricane season,” a Homeland Security spokesperson told the Daily Beast in a statement.
The spokesperson said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Richardson were shifting FEMA “from bloated, D.C.-centric dead weight to a lean, deployable disaster force that empowers state actors to provide relief for their citizens.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who has been dubbed "ICE Barbie" for her cosplays on the clock, vowed in March to eliminate FEMA but reportedly extended the contracts of over 2,600 staff in May. Pool/AFP via Getty Images
Richardson told staff that he would not be issuing a new plan for the hurricane season, despite vowing to release one in May, because he did not want to make changes that the FEMA Review Council may not like, Reuters reported. The council was created by Trump and includes Noem, governors, and other officials.
One source told Reuters that the lack of strategic guidance has caused confusion among FEMA staff.
Richardson, a Marine veteran with no prior disaster response experience—he lectured in history and taught Marine martial arts—was named FEMA chief last month. His predecessor, Cameron Hamilton, was abruptly terminated after a disagreement with Trump’s vision of delegating FEMA’s jobs down to the states.
“I do not believe it is in the best interest of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” Hamilton told a Congressional hearing last month. “Having said that, I’m not in a position to make decisions and impact outcomes on whether or not a determination as consequential as that should be made.”
President Donald Trump earlier said FEMA "complicates everything," arguing that the disaster agency's job should be passed down to the states instead. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Trump earlier told Fox News that he believed FEMA just “complicates everything,” adding that he “would rather see the states take care of their own problems.”
Although Noem said in a March Cabinet meeting that the Trump administration was “eliminating” FEMA, internal documents dated May and obtained by NBC News showed that she approved a request from Richardson to retain more than 2,600 employees whose terms were set to expire between April and December.
Trump’s campaign against the disaster agency has already been felt on the ground.
In April, FEMA rejected North Carolina’s request to extend the filing period for hurricane damage reimbursement after a devastating tropical storm claimed over 100 lives.
Last month, St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer said FEMA had yet to provide assistance days after a tornado killed at least seven people and caused over $1 billion in damage. Missouri officials wrote to Trump last week urging him to approve Governor Mike Kehoe’s disaster declaration.
The DHS spokesperson insisted in the statement that FEMA remains “laser-focused on disaster response and protecting the American people.”
“The old processes are being replaced because they failed Americans in real emergencies for decades,” it read.
