‘i Alone Will Speak On Behalf Of Fema,’ New Agency Chief Tells Staff

The new head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency told staffers Friday morning that he will personally make all decisions at the agency, including those related to disaster payments, according to a former FEMA official who listened to the virtual meeting.

“I don’t know if that will last for hours, days or weeks, but I need to get a handle on what’s going on in the agency,” FEMA acting Administrator David Richardson said at an all-staff meeting, according to the former official, who was granted anonymity to discuss internal communications.

Richardson succeeded Cameron Hamilton, who was fired Thursday after leading the disaster agency for 3½ months. Richardson's focus on making every decision threatens to drastically slow down FEMA operations, including the payment of disaster aid and grants to states, the former official said. Agency leaders have typically delegated such decisions.

“It’ll slow down everything. How can everything funnel through one person? He will have to figure out who he can trust and delegate some authority,” the former official told POLITICO's E&E News.

Richardson also said Friday he would approve all news releases and added, “I and I alone will speak on behalf of FEMA." At one point, he told staff, “I’m not going to start out by saying I’m honored to serve. I’m here to do a job."

Elements of the Friday staff meeting and some of his remarks were first reported by Reuters.

Department of Homeland Security officials had planned to fire Hamilton on Wednesday morning, hours before he was to testify before the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, according to a person with knowledge of the events. When Hamilton arrived at FEMA headquarters that morning, his computer was not working, another person with knowledge of the events said.

He then went to Capitol Hill, where at one point during his testimony he seemed to contradict President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, both of whom had previously indicated that FEMA might be disbanded.

“I do not believe it is in the best interests of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” Hamilton told the House panel.

The remark was widely interpreted as the catalyst for his firing the next day at DHS headquarters. But the plan to fire Hamilton on Wednesday morning appears to confirm a report by NBC News in which DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said his termination was not in response to his statements to the subcommittee.

“Before he testified, he knew his time was ticking,” one of the people with knowledge of the events told E&E News.

However, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Friday that Hamilton was fired because of his testimony.

"My understanding is that this individual testified saying something that was contrary to what the president believes and the goals of this administration in regards to FEMA policy. So, of course, we want to make sure that people in every position are advancing the administration’s goals," Leavitt said.

Corey Lewandowski, a longtime adviser to Trump, played a key role in the decision to fire Hamilton and approved the move before it was sent to Noem, according to both people with knowledge of the events.

"I just don’t think he was strong enough," one of the people said. "Because he was continuing to try to nurse FEMA along and wasn’t taking hard action, Lewandowski didn’t see him as the strong voice and the disruptor."

Richardson, the new FEMA chief, is a former Marine artillery officer who had been assistant secretary in the DHS Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office.

Neither FEMA nor DHS immediately returned messages seeking comment.