RELEASE: Congresswoman Friedman Confronts FEMA Acting Administrator Over Stunning Breakdown in Flood Response

July 23, 2025

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, July 23, 2025, in a sharp exchange at a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing, U.S. Congresswoman Laura Friedman (CA-30) confronted Acting FEMA Administrator Robert Richardson over the agency’s catastrophic failure to answer tens of thousands of disaster survivor calls during the deadly flooding in Texas earlier this month.

A recording of the hearing can be found here.

Friedman, citing internal FEMA data and reporting, laid out a devastating timeline:

On July 5, FEMA received 3,027 calls and answered 3,018 — a 99.7% response rate.
That night, FEMA failed to renew contracts with four call center companies because of bureaucratic red tape implemented by President Trump and DHS Secretary Noem.
On July 6, call volume dropped to 2,363 — but FEMA answered only 846, or 35.8%.
On July 7, FEMA fielded 16,419 calls and answered just 2,613 — only 15.9%

The unnecessary expiration of those call center contracts "led to thousands of victims not having their calls answered by their government,” said Friedman. “Their government wasn’t there when they reached out for help in their darkest hour.”

During the hearing, Friedman pushed Richardson to acknowledge the data and pressed him on the accountability failure that led to the lapse in call center staffing. Detailed reporting from The New York Times confirmed that hundreds of contract call agents were let go after Secretary Kristi Noem failed to renew contracts requiring her personal sign-off.

Friedman called the requirement of a single individual approving every contract over $100,000 “the definition of bureaucracy,” and highlighted how that process delayed aid and left FEMA officials “incredibly frustrated” as calls from disaster victims went unanswered.

When Richardson claimed there was “never a lapse in the contract” and called the call failure statistics “fake news,” Friedman responded:

“Well, that is absolutely not what the reports from these companies from the disaster say. They give specific numbers of calls that went unanswered, and I don’t see how you can deny these reports.”

Friedman’s focus remains on identifying how the system broke down and ensuring that these mistakes are never repeated. Americans who call FEMA, like the thousands who called during the Los Angeles wildfires earlier this year, deserve a government that is prepared and responsive when it matters most.

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