Industry Update
November 17, 2025
Source: CNN Politics
The embattled acting chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency will step down after hurricane season following months of public controversy and internal frustration.
David Richardson submitted a resignation letter on Monday to the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA, giving two weeks’ notice, the department told CNN. However, plans were already in the works at the agency to oust him from the role, three sources told CNN.
Richardson, a loyalist to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, was tapped to lead FEMA even though he lacked experience in disaster management. But his time in charge has been punctuated by some eyebrow-raising moments — like in a June meeting in which he told staff he was unaware the US has a hurricane season, a comment DHS later insisted was a joke.
His impending departure raises the stakes for FEMA — the agency responsible for helping Americans recover from the nation’s worst disasters — as Noem and DHS prepare for sweeping reforms that could fundamentally reshape its future.
A FEMA official with knowledge of the decision said Karen Evans, a close Trump administration ally at DHS and FEMA’s newly appointed chief of staff, will replace Richardson. A DHS spokesperson later said in a statement that Evans will start in her new role on December 1.
The spokesperson said the agencies thanked Richardson “for his dedicated service and wish him continued success in his return to the private sector.”
Richardson’s leadership faced its toughest test in July, when catastrophic floods devastated Texas and killed more than 130 people. As the crisis unfolded, Richardson was on vacation and unreachable for hours. He later told lawmakers he spent the entire trip in his truck, glued to his phone, coordinating the response.
Yet Richardson was publicly silent and absent from the flood zone, surfacing more than a week later for an unannounced visit to Texas — days after President Donald Trump and Noem toured the area. He arrived in a straw hat and cowboy boots, notably lacking any FEMA insignia — a striking departure from the typical image of agency leaders on the front lines of a crisis.
His absence was not by chance. DHS leaders had instructed FEMA to keep Richardson’s Texas trip under wraps until he left the state, deliberately shielding him from the press, three sources with knowledge of the decision said.
Richardson later defended his leadership and told lawmakers the DHS response in Texas was a “model for how to respond to a disaster.”
Traditionally, the FEMA administrator is the president’s right hand for natural disasters and national emergencies. But in Trump’s second term, Richardson has been largely pushed to the sidelines, with his authority steadily diminished by Noem.
In a statement Monday, Richardson defended his short tenure at FEMA, arguing that he “didn’t hesitate” to take on the leadership post just weeks before hurricane season began.
“I agreed to be the acting administrator through hurricane season when others wouldn’t. Hurricane season ends on 1 December. Since the danger has largely passed, I can now leave for other opportunities,” he said. “Many were asked. One raised his hand and said, ‘I’ll do it.’”
Criticism of Richardson’s leadership at FEMA
A former Marine combat veteran, martial arts instructor and painter, Richardson previously led the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction office at DHS but had no experience managing natural disasters when he was tapped for the FEMA role in May. His predecessor, Cameron Hamilton, also a Trump administration appointee, was fired for clashing with senior homeland security officials and opposing the administration’s push to eliminate FEMA.
“He never should have been there to begin with,” Hamilton, who worked with Richardson during his time in the administration, told CNN this week. “The two words I’d use to describe him are unprofessional and overwhelmed.”
Richardson’s appointment marked a turning point as DHS tightened its grip on FEMA, installing loyalists in key positions and pushing out veteran disaster experts. Unlike Hamilton, Richardson was seen as someone who would follow orders. He’s a personal friend of longtime Trump ally Corey Lewandowski, who is helping Noem run DHS as her chief adviser.
On his first day, Richardson told FEMA staff he alone spoke for the agency and warned he would “run right over” anyone who didn’t fall in line.
Some officials describe his leadership as brash and unpredictable, with a penchant for shouting and swearing. On one occasion, he asked staff whether disaster funds could be steered to Republican areas but not Democratic ones, a FEMA official who heard the comments firsthand said.
At times, Richardson prohibited staff from bringing cell phones and computers into meetings. He often kept his own phone out of sight and rarely used email, leaving senior FEMA leaders struggling to reach him and making even basic communication a constant challenge.
Over the months, Noem and her team had grown frustrated with Richardson’s distracting antics and failure to effectively communicate their FEMA reforms to Congress and the public, three sources with knowledge of the conversations told CNN. But senior leaders ultimately decided it made more sense to wait until after hurricane season to remove him.
The department has steadily reduced his role, treating him more as a liability than an asset. DHS has repeatedly blocked his requests to speak at conventions or to lead public information campaigns about hurricane season, two sources said.
“Have you heard him speak?” an administration official told CNN. “He does more damage than good.”
In recent months, the department has reassigned some of Richardson’s closest allies and surrounded him with senior staff who have further limited his authority.
FEMA’s future at a crossroads
The timing of Richardson’s removal is significant. Once hurricane season ends at the end of the month, the administration is set to fast-track its sweeping transformation of FEMA.
The new FEMA Review Council, which is headed by Noem, will soon deliver its much-anticipated report, outlining recommendations to reshape the agency. As the dust settles, FEMA’s future — and its ability to respond when disaster strikes — hangs in the balance.
Meanwhile, dozens of lawmakers have signed on to a bipartisan bill known as the “FEMA Act” that would remove the agency from DHS and make it independent — a change Noem vehemently opposes, multiple sources told CNN.
Trump and Noem have been overhauling FEMA since taking office as they vow to shift more responsibility for disaster preparedness, response and recovery onto states. While they once called for the agency’s outright elimination, their tone has shifted in recent months, signaling a dramatic restructuring may be in store. Either way, current and former high-ranking FEMA officials have warned that growing turmoil at the agency is putting Americans at risk.
More than a quarter of the agency’s full-time staff have left through layoffs and buyouts — including dozens of longtime senior leaders — and morale has plummeted amid frequent public attacks from administration officials, including Noem and Trump.
But the administration has benefited from the mildest hurricane season in a decade, with no hurricanes making landfall anywhere in the US for the first time since 2015.
“FEMA likely would have failed had there been a major disaster,” a former high-ranking FEMA official told CNN. “Having no big disasters has absolutely played into the Trump narrative that there is no need for FEMA. And it hasn’t allowed the American people to see just how bad they need the agency, since the states just aren’t prepared.”
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