The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s acting leader has adamantly defended the federal government’s response to historic flooding in Texas earlier this month, saying lawmakers’ attacks on the agency’s actions were unwarranted.
FEMA Senior Official Performing the Duties of Administrator David Richardson pushed back on complaints from members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee as they listed out examples of ways they viewed FEMA had failed in the aftermath of the Kerr County floods that claimed 135 lives, namely, slow response and coordination with state and local authorities.
“Is there anything you think FEMA did wrong in its response to the Texas floods that we rectify and do differently next time?” Rep. Shomari C. Figures (D-AL) asked Richardson.
“I can’t see anything that we did wrong, and I think the president and [Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem] acknowledge that and so does [Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX)], by saying how well we did,” Richardson said. “We would like to take the strengths that we did in Texas, and we’re going to share them with other states. We’ll work on them in tabletop exercise to make sure that they do it as well.”
Figures pushed back and asked if Richardson, who has been on the job since May, maintained that FEMA’s response to the flood was “perfect.”
“Look, nothing is perfect. However, I will say that it was a model, particularly at FEMA, the region, the state level,” Richardson said. “That continuity was a model how disasters should be handled, and that’s thanks to the president’s guidance, the secretary’s guidance, Gov. Abbott, the state emergency operations center in Texas, the emergency manager, as well as the [FEMA] Region 6 manager.”
Figures told Richardson that he would be smart in the future to be on-site when the disaster occurs, rather than waiting more than a week to show up in person.
Rep. Greg Stanton (D-AZ) chided Richardson for not expeditiously traveling to the flood site when it occurred early in the morning on July 4.
“For the first 48 hours, the most critical window for search and rescue, he never visited the National Response Coordination Center. For more than a week, he stayed away from Texas, and for 10 days, he made no statement,” Stanton said.
Richardson defended his response, saying he had been on vacation with his two children on July 4 and 5 and spent that weekend driving back to Washington.
.@RepGregStanton on acting FEMA admin.during TX floods: “For the first 48 hours, the most critical window for search and rescue, he never visited the National Response Coordination Center. For more than a week, he stayed away from Texas and for 10 days, he made no statement.” pic.twitter.com/bVTYn3f8G4
— CSPAN (@cspan) July 23, 2025
Rep. Laura Friedman (D-CA) pointed out that 15.9% of calls to FEMA’s emergency line related to the flood were answered.
“I would have to agree with Secretary Noem. That’s fake news. The majority of the calls were answered,” Richardson said.
Richardson said the agency was in the midst of a makeover and its future would only be determined later this year when a FEMA review board decides how to reform the organization to adhere to the White House’s vision.
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Former FEMA leader Cameron Hamilton was abruptly terminated in early May for undercutting President Donald Trump while testifying before Congress.
Hamilton was tapped days into the Trump administration to oversee FEMA, then fired a day after he told House lawmakers on the Appropriations Committee for Homeland Security that he did not believe the agency should be abolished. The remark marked a break from Trump, who has called for the agency’s dismantling.