New York Times: FEMA's director defends the response to Texas flooding during a hearing with lawmakers

July 24, 2025

David Richardson, the acting director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, defended the Trump administration’s handling of the recent catastrophic floods in Texas, insisting to members of Congress on Wednesday that recent policy changes did not slow the government’s response.

Under questioning from Democrats on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Mr. Richardson said FEMA’s response to the Texas floods represented a “model” for “how disasters should be handled.”

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who oversees FEMA, has been under fire for the federal government’s response to the flooding in Texas. Several Democrats have called for an investigation amid reports that Ms. Noem waited 72 hours to send urban search and rescue crews to Kerr County because a new policy required her to personally approve every expenditure over $100,000.

“This wasn’t just incompetence,” said Representative Greg Stanton, Democrat of Arizona. “It wasn’t just indifference. It was both, and that deadly combination likely cost lives.”

Mr. Richardson denied that the new policy caused a bottleneck. He also disputed a report by The New York Times that, on July 6 and 7, thousands of calls to the agency went unanswered because hundreds of contractors had been fired.

Representative Laura Friedman, Democrat of California pressed Mr. Richardson on documents showing that FEMA’s response rate went from 99.7 percent on July 5 to 15.9 percent on July 7.

“Are you telling me those are fake numbers?” she asked.

Mr. Richardson responded, “What I can tell you is the vast majority of phone calls were answered.” He said Ms. Noem was “concerned about due diligence and making sure the American people get what they deserve for their tax dollars.”

Mr. Richardson offered little clarity on the future of FEMA. President Trump said he wanted to phase out the agency after hurricane season by shifting more responsibility for disaster response and recovery to the states.

Asked on Wednesday if FEMA would exist in the future, Mr. Richardson replied, “What I can commit to is that the president wants a better emergency management for the American people.”