# 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. - Title: The $100K memo that broke FEMA · ABC7 New York | Shortify - Summary: 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… - Keywords: fema, texas flood, kristi noem, disaster response, bureaucracy, news, local, 100K, memo, broke, ABC7 New York - Source: ABC7 New York — https://abc7ny.com/story/former-fema-administrator-speaks-kristi-noems-downfall-deadly-texas-flooding/19835741 - Published: 2026-09-15T18:49:17+00:00 - Read time: 2 min - Topics: fema, texas flood, kristi noem, disaster response, bureaucracy, news, local ## 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 ## Key takeaway A cost-control rule written for normal weeks became the thing that failed during the worst one.