Former acting Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administrator David Richardson has stated that the agency provided necessary aid to Texas during the historic flooding over the July Fourth weekend in 2025, despite criticisms of the response. Richardson also asserts in his upcoming book, "Texas Flood: Power, Money, Politics, History, Bureaucracy and Tragedy," that a mandate from then-Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem was the catalyst for her political decline.
Richardson, who resigned from FEMA in December 2025, explained in an interview with ABC News that his departure was directly linked to a directive from Noem requiring her personal sign-off on all contracts exceeding $100,000. He described this as an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy that would impede disaster relief efforts.
"I eventually had to make a decision where I overrode DHS headquarters and sent the support anyhow," Richardson told ABC News, referring to the assistance sent to Texas. He noted that the scale of the disaster required daily contracts potentially reaching $500 million, making individual headquarters approval for every contract over $100,000 impractical.
Richardson recounted instances in his book where he felt DHS was monitoring his actions and that the former secretary was more concerned with appearances than with operational effectiveness. He drew parallels to military support, stating, "When a Marine or an Army ranger calls for support, they get what they need, regardless of the cost." He viewed providing aid during the Texas floods with the same urgency.
While acknowledging the cost-saving intentions behind Noem's memo, Richardson argued that its potential negative consequences were not fully considered. "I firmly believe that the 100K memo and the ramifications that it had was the beginning of the end for Secretary Noem," he stated.
Richardson explained his decision not to immediately travel to Texas after the floods, believing the primary obstacles were in Washington D.C. "I was going to go to Texas once the check was cashed," he said. "I made sure it was cashed before I went there to see the people of Texas."
He also addressed criticism he received during testimony before House Democrats, explaining that while he spent a night in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, during the disaster, he was working remotely and returned to Washington the following morning. The book details FEMA's preparedness exercises, which included modeling scenarios for a Category 3 hurricane, a response that would incur hundreds of millions of dollars.
Richardson refuted claims that FEMA withheld essential support from Texas, asserting that FEMA teams and Coast Guard units were already deployed for search and rescue operations. "The tragedy was, so many people died and the search and rescue teams had to get to Texas so they could recover the bodies," he said.
Richardson's decision to resign was solidified when his proposals for reshaping FEMA were not prioritized. He expressed frustration that FEMA's restructuring plans were being handled by the FEMA Review Council rather than being directly implemented. He advocated for FEMA to report directly to the president, rather than being subordinate to DHS, and described the agency as "bloated, overweight and unhealthy."
Michael Coen, former FEMA chief of staff under the Obama and Biden administrations, offered a different perspective. "FEMA’s structure has been built to align the necessary resources and staff to address the risks the nation may face," Coen told ABC News. "The Agency is continuously improving and learning to meet the mission."