From ABC7 New York · · 2m
The $100K memo that broke FEMA
A former acting FEMA chief says he overrode his own headquarters to get money moving during the Texas flood.
In brief
A former acting FEMA chief says he overrode his own headquarters to get money moving during the Texas flood. A cost-control rule written for normal weeks became the thing that failed during the worst one. Originally reported by ABC7 New York.
He is finally talking
David Richardson, the former acting FEMA administrator, lays out his side in a new book released Tuesday about the July Fourth weekend flooding in Texas.
Texas got what it needed
Richardson insists the response worked despite the criticism piled on FEMA. He says the agency drilled for worst-case scenarios before the water ever rose.
“I prepared for the worst from the minute I got to FEMA”
Democrats say otherwise
House Democrats accused DHS of moving too slowly in Texas and grilled Richardson during his testimony. DHS did not respond to a request for comment.
One memo, one signature
Noem required that every contract above $100,000 get her personal sign-off. Richardson was staring at roughly $500 million a day in contracts for Texas.
“that's just another layer of bureaucracy”
He overrode headquarters
Rather than wait on approvals, Richardson sent the support anyway. A staffer had warned him the memo would kill them in a real disaster.
“I eventually had to make a decision where I overrode DHS headquarters and sent the support anyhow”
The Marine rule
Richardson frames it in military terms. When someone in the field calls for support, cost is not part of the conversation.
“When a Marine or an Army ranger calls for support, they get what they need, regardless of the cost”
Beginning of the end
He believes the memo and its fallout started Noem's slide. In the book he describes DHS planting spies at FEMA and a secretary focused on how things looked.
“I firmly believe that the 100K memo and the ramifications that it had was the beginning of the end for Secretary Noem”
Why he skipped Texas
Administrators usually land at a disaster site immediately. Richardson stayed in D.C. because that is where the money was stuck, and flew down only after the check cleared.
“I wasn't going to Texas and tell them the check is in the mail”
Put FEMA on a diet
He calls the agency bloated and overweight, wants headquarters staff cut, and argues FEMA should report straight to the president instead of sitting under DHS.
“I don't want to be in charge of a bloated, inefficient agency like FEMA that I can't put on a diet”
A rebuttal from inside
Michael Coen, FEMA chief of staff under Biden and Obama, says the agency's size matches the risks the country actually faces.
“The Agency is continuously improving and learning to meet the mission”
The bottom line
A cost-control rule written for normal weeks became the thing that failed during the worst one.
