The Marine veteran appointed by President Donald Trump to temporarily lead FEMA has been accused of going incommunicado when his agency needed him most.
FEMA’s acting administrator, David Richardson, could not be reached for about 24 hours after flash floods ripped through Texas on the Fourth of July, eight current and former officials from the administration told The Washington Post.
The radio silence hampered the agency’s response, the Post reported, as he allegedly was not available to approve the mass deployment of resources to the flood-stricken Hill Country north of San Antonio.
A policy imposed by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who oversees FEMA, requires her approval for any FEMA expense exceeding $100,000. With Richardson reportedly on vacation with his sons and allegedly inaccessible, the Post’s sources said resources were left waiting in limbo, unable to be rapidly deployed to save lives.
Internal DHS documents showed that Richardson was in the “National Capitol Region” over the holiday weekend, meaning he was not far from home. He told the House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee that he had been in constant contact with FEMA authorities from his truck.
“I was in my truck with my two boys and myself,” he said. “I remained in my truck the whole time.”
Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, of Texas, was also on vacation when the flooding struck, and his slow return to the Lone Star State was criticized after the Daily Beast blew a hole in his claim that he returned home from Greece “as fast as humanly possible.”
Richardson, who has no prior experience in emergency management, was not reachable by FEMA teams until Sunday, July 6, according to the Post, which cited “two people with knowledge of the situation.” That was two days after fast-rising flood waters claimed the lives of more than 130, including children at a summer camp.
The Post reported that Richardson is known to “unplug” at any chance he can. Two former officials who worked with Richardson told the paper that he “usually puts his phone in a box when he gets home and rarely answers it after hours.”
FEMA did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
A FEMA spokesperson defended Richardson in a statement to the Post, saying, “Many in the federal government, including Acting Administrator Richardson, have loving families to attend to and to take care of, President Trump and Secretary Noem included.”
The spokesperson continued, “This administration fully supports families of public servants and appreciates the commitment and sacrifice it takes to serve America. Having a family does not diminish anyone’s ability to serve their country; rather, it enhances it.”
Democratic Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., of New Jersey, told the Post that Richardson’s inaccessibility goes beyond a poorly timed vacation. He said that “Richardson is basically useless” as he is “absent from the office, unreachable in a disaster, and powerless because Secretary Noem has sidelined him.”
Those at FEMA appear to agree. The Post reported that it spoke to nearly 30 officials who described Richardson’s alleged lack of response in July as part of a “general lack of urgency since he took over.”
Richardson, 60, was appointed to lead FEMA in May. In his first staff meeting, he reportedly told his new colleagues, “I will run right over you. I will achieve the president’s intent.”
It appears he may not have conducted extensive research before accepting the all-important gig. During his opening meeting, he told staff that he could not “recall” what his official title was. Then, in June, he told staff in a meeting that he did not know that the United States had a “hurricane season.” A DHS spokesperson told the Daily Beast over the summer that Richardson was joking about hurricane season.
