FEMA Search and Rescue Chief Resigns Over Frustration at Slow Texas Flood Response: Report
"At every turn they've made it more difficult for the agency and the people left here to do our job," a longtime FEMA employee told CNN.
Ken Pagurek, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Urban Search and Rescue branch, unexpectedly resigned on Monday over what CNN reports was frustration with the Trump administration's slow response time to the catastrophic floods in Texas earlier this month that left more than 130 people dead.
Sources tell CNN that Pagurek told colleagues this week that bureaucratic hurdles imposed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under Secretary Kristi Noem were a tipping point because he felt that they had slowed down his unit's response to the Texas floods.
Pagurek's resignation letter, which was obtained by CNN, made no specific mention of the response to the Texas floods and instead talked in generalities about his decision to return to the Philadelphia Fire Department, where he had worked prior to spending more than a decade at FEMA's Urban Search and Rescue unit.
"This decision was not made lightly, and after much reflection and prayer, it is the right path for me at this time," Pagurek wrote. "I have been continually inspired by the unwavering dedication, unmatched courage, and deep-seated commitment we share for saving lives and bringing hope in the face of devastation."
This did not stop Trump administration officials from taking shots at Pagurek on his way out the door, however.
"It is laughable that a career public employee, who claims to serve the American people, would choose to resign over our refusal to hastily approve a six-figure deployment contract without basic financial oversight," one unnamed DHS spokesperson told CNN. "We're being responsible with taxpayer dollars, that’s our job."
However, CNN notes that Pagurek is just one of several longtime FEMA employees who have exited the agency since U.S. President Donald Trump's second term began this past January. The cable news network also says that its own past reporting on restrictions placed on FEMA line up with the concerns reportedly expressed by Pagurek on his way out the door.
"FEMA leaders were unable to quickly mobilize some critical resources, including these elite teams, in the crucial first hours of the Texas floods," writes CNN. "The holdup stemmed from a new rule imposed by Noem, who continues to require her personal approval for every contract and grant over $100,000 before funds can be released—a threshold that FEMA officials called 'pennies' during a disaster response. Some FEMA teams, which are involved in large area searches, water rescues and finding human remains, didn't arrive in Texas and begin field work until a week after the flood."
And while DHS has been making noises about speeding up approval of funds for urgent life-saving operations, one longtime employee at the agency says it's still not sufficient to overcome administrative hurdles.
"At every turn they've made it more difficult for the agency and the people left here to do our job," they said. "It's just a shotgun approach to guidance that we are constantly reacting to, and then trying to build internal process on the fly, to make sure we can answer the bell when it’s rung."
President Trump has angrily lashed out at criticism of his administration's response to the flooding, and earlier this month he tried to publicly shame a Texas reporter who asked him whether the actions of the administration had needlessly cost people's lives.
"Only a bad person would ask a question like that, to be honest with you," he said in response to the reporter. "I don't know who you are but only a very evil person would ask a question like that."
