The recently installed head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency alarmed staff members on Monday when he reportedly said he was unaware that the U.S. has a hurricane season, which formally began on June 1.
The reported comments are the latest sign of upheaval at the federal disaster-management agency, which the Trump administration says it wants to “eliminate,” handing many of its responsibilities to state governments.
The comments from David Richardson, who has been overseeing FEMA since May, came during a briefing with staff members, Reuters reports, citing four sources familiar with his comments.
Richardson, a former Marine artillery officer and Homeland Security official, has no formal disaster-management experience.
During the briefing, Richardson also allegedly said he was holding off on unveiling a new disaster plan so as not to contradict the administration’s review of FEMA activities, despite previously saying in May one would be ready by later that month.
The agency quickly downplayed the reporting, telling Reuters the comments were a joke and that FEMA was prepared for the coming hurricane season.
“FEMA is shifting from bloated, DC-centric dead weight to a lean, deployable disaster force that empowers state actors to provide relief for their citizens,” the agency said in a statement.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently warned this year’s hurricane season, which runs through November, has a 60 percent chance of above-normal conditions.
The agency has been in turmoil throughout the Trump administration.
It has reportedly cut back on training for state and local emergency managers, and acting FEMA administrator Cameron Hamilton was fired in May, after he testified in Congress he didn’t think the administration should shutter the disaster response body.
Hurricane preparations inside FEMA have reportedly slowed in the face of the roughly 2,000 people who have been fired or resigned under Trump.
“As FEMA transforms to a smaller footprint, the intent for this hurricane season is not well understood,” according to an internal agency review prepared at the direction of Richardson that was obtained by CNN . “Thus FEMA is not ready.”
In January, Trump created a FEMA Review Council to determine the future of the agency.
The administration has criticized FEMA from a number of angles, ranging from arguments that it’s inefficient, to inaccurate claims the agency diverted emergency funding to house migrants.
On the campaign trail, Trump also falsely claimed then Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden didn’t visit the disaster zones in North Carolina after Hurricane Helene, and that the federal government didn’t help people in Republican-leaning areas.
Trump has also threatened to withhold wildfire aid to California if it doesn’t agree to various policy demands.
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