Stories from Texas Stations

Acting FEMA chief resigns after criticism over Texas flood response

KERA | By Lucio Vasquez |The Texas Newsroom

Published November 18, 2025 at 2:57 PM CST

First responders from College Station Fire Department search along the banks of the Guadalupe River, as rescue efforts continue following extreme flooding, Sunday, July 6, 2025, in Ingram, Texas.

David Richardson, the acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, resigned Monday after just six months in charge, following mounting criticism over his handling of the devastating July 4 floods in the Texas Hill Country.

Richardson, a former Marine Corps officer who was the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's assistant secretary for countering weapons of mass destruction, had no background in emergency management when he was appointed in May. His leadership quickly came under fire in the aftermath of the Texas floods, which killed more than 130 people, including children at a summer camp along the Guadalupe River.

Lawmakers and local officials accused Richardson of failing to show urgency as the crisis unfolded. He didn't travel to the region for days, later telling members of Congress during a committee hearing that he stayed in Washington, D.C., to "kick down the doors of bureaucracy." He also acknowledged that he had been camping with his sons over the July 4 weekend.

Richardson insisted the agency's response was "a model for how to respond to a disaster," but some lawmakers sharply disagreed.

"This wasn't just incompetence, it wasn't just indifference — it was both, and that deadly combination likely cost lives," said Democratic Rep. Greg Stanton of Arizona.

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the departure in a brief statement, thanking Richardson for his service and saying he would return to the private sector. FEMA Chief of Staff Karen Evans will take his place starting Dec. 1, according to DHS.

Richardson's departure comes as the FEMA Review Council prepares to deliver a sweeping set of recommendations to the White House on how to overhaul the agency. The council, formed earlier this year, was charged with assessing FEMA's performance and proposing major structural changes — in line with President Donald Trump's push to fundamentally remake the agency.

According to POLITICO, 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.