FEMA Head Resigns After Disastrous Six Months In The Role

Washington, D.C. – Acting FEMA administrator David Richardson resigned after six disastrous months in the role. Richardson’s time at the agency was almost as short as his predecessor’s, and equally as chaotic. Finding a new job is hard, so we did Richardson a favor by updating his resume with his FEMA experience for him.

Experience:

Acting Administrator of Federal Emergency Management Agency, May – November 2025 

• Under Richardson’s leadership, according to an internal agency review, FEMA was “not ready” ahead of hurricane season and was months behind schedule in its preparations.
• Richardson scrapped the agency’s hurricane plan right before hurricane season to revert to last year’s plan.
• In his first weeks as acting administrator, Richardson said he did not know the U.S. had a hurricane season. 
• A senior FEMA official who worked with Richardson on hurricane planning said Richardson was “not qualified” to do the job.
• In Richardson’s first days in the role, Trump cut disaster-response training for local and state emergency managers just before the start of hurricane season.
• In July, while Texas was flooding, Richardson couldn’t be reached for 24 hours, according to key staff, slowing response and resource efforts.

• Richardson proposed cutting nearly $1 billion in disaster preparation and security funding, which FEMA acknowledged would leave communities “more vulnerable to catastrophic incidents.” 

• More than 180 experts warned that Richardson’s inexperience, along with Trump’s cuts to the agency, hindered FEMA’s ability to effectively manage emergencies and could result in the next Katrina-level disaster.
• During Richardson’s time as acting administrator, the Government Accountability Office released a report that found that FEMA cuts could “exacerbate existing challenges and impact the federal government’s readiness to respond to future disasters.”