Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Acting Administrator David Richardson testifies before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management at the Rayburn House Office Building on July 23, 2025 in Washington, DC.
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Federal Emergency Management Agency acting administrator David Richardson will step down, ending a difficult tenure after just six months in office, with the Atlantic hurricane season underway, a senior Trump administration official said.
Richardson, a former Marine Corps officer, is the second FEMA administrator to resign or be fired since May. He resigned amid criticism that he kept a low profile after July’s deadly Texas floods that killed 130 people, and embarrassed staff in June when he said he didn’t know the country was in hurricane season.
A senior Trump administration official familiar with Richardson’s resignation, which was first reported by the Washington Post, did not provide a reason for the FEMA chief’s resignation.
It was not immediately clear who Mr. Richardson’s successor would be.
Richardson’s predecessor was fired in May in response to the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle government agencies. President Donald Trump has said he wants to significantly reduce the size of FEMA, the federal agency responsible for preparing for and responding to natural disasters, and said state governments could take on many of its functions.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA, did not respond to requests for comment.
FEMA plays a central role in the United States’ response to large-scale disasters, including hurricanes. The Atlantic hurricane season is scheduled to end this month.
Mr. Richardson has made fewer public appearances than FEMA leaders under previous presidents, and has rarely appeared in public. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has served as the face of the administration’s response to natural disasters during President Trump’s second term.
Mr Richardson’s sudden resignation is an ignominious end for an official who, when he first took over in May, told staff that those who resisted change would be “quickly run over” and that from now on all decisions must be made by Mr Richardson.
“I, and I alone at FEMA, speak for FEMA,” he said at the time.
FEMA has lost about 2,500 employees since January through buyouts, layoffs and other employee retirements, reducing its overall size to about 23,350, according to a September report from the Government Accountability Office.
The cuts are part of President Trump’s broader push to reduce the cost and size of the federal civilian workforce.
