FEMA acting chief David Richardson resigns after criticism for delayed response to Texas floods that killed 137

David Richardson resigned as acting FEMA Administrator on Nov. 17, 2025 (Monday), after just 6 months in the position. He submitted a resignation letter to the Department of Homeland Security giving two weeks' notice. However, three sources told CNN that plans were already underway at the agency to remove him from the role. Richardson was a former Marine Corps officer who served as DHS Assistant Secretary for Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction but had no background in emergency management when appointed in May 2025.

Richardson faced intense criticism for his response to the Jul. 4, 2025, 🤠Texas Hill Country floods that killed at least 136 people, including 27 girls and counselors at Camp Mystic, a Christian youth summer camp along the Guadalupe River. Richardson was camping with his sons for the Jul. 4 holiday weekend when the floods hit and couldn't be reached for 24 hours after raging floodwaters began killing people. He helped manage the initial response from inside his truck.

Richardson didn't arrive in 🤠Texas until one week after the Jul. 4 disaster. When he finally visited, 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. 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 told CNN. He was publicly silent and absent from the flood zone while Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem toured the area.

When asked by a House committee in Jul. why he didn't arrive until a week after the disaster, Richardson said he stayed in 🏛️Washington, D.C., to "kick down the doors of bureaucracy." He later told lawmakers the DHS response in 🤠Texas was a "model for how to respond to a disaster." Nearly 200 FEMA employees signed an open letter in Aug. criticizing the Trump administration's disaster preparedness after the Texas floods.

Richardson baffled FEMA staff in Jun. when he told them he was unaware the United States has a hurricane season. DHS later insisted this was a joke. He often kept his phone out of sight and rarely used email, leaving senior FEMA leaders struggling to reach him and making even basic communication a constant challenge. DHS had steadily reduced his role, treating him more as a liability than an asset.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has kept a tight grip on FEMA programs and spending, requiring that she personally approve any agency expenditure over $100,000. Richardson denied reports that this approval policy slowed down FEMA's response in 🤠Texas, but the signatories of the Aug. letter wrote that Noem's requirement had delayed the agency's disaster response. More than a quarter of FEMA's full-time staff have left through layoffs and buyouts since Trump took office.

In a phone interview Monday night, Richardson told NBC that when he came to FEMA, his understanding was that his role was "to shut it down." But he said the agency's experience dealing with the 🤠Texas and 🐻Alaska floods proved the need for the agency, if at a smaller scale. Richardson said "We want to push it back to the states" and that he believes Trump will reform rather than eliminate the agency. Trump is weighing a plan to move FEMA's headquarters to Texas and tap Nim Kidd, head of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, to lead the agency.