‘I will run right over you’: New FEMA head issues warning to Trump critics | Donald Trump News

The new head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the United States warned his staff that he did not tolerate any resistance to the agenda of President Donald Trump for the organization.

Friday was the first full day of the leadership of David Richardson in FEMA, after the agency saw a shaking of the helm earlier this week. But he was his mandate as a boss with a marked warning for the agency.

“I, and I only in Fema-Speak for Fema. I am here to take the intention of the president for FEMA,” said the call staff throughout the agency.

He predicted that 20 percent of the staff would oppose Trump’s vision for the FEMA, which has committed to dismantle.

“Oldlocation, delay, undermine. If you are one of those 20 percent of people and you think those tactics and techniques will help you, they will not, because I will run well around you,” said Richardson.

“Don’t get in my way,” he added. “I know all the tricks.”

FEMA is the agency responsible for coordinating and carrying out the response of the federal government to natural disasters and other emergencies, from hurricanes and floods to national attacks.

But it has a pulmonary leg criticized by lagged response times, inappropriate and disorganic resources, particularly the disasters of the main duration such as Hurricane Katrina of 2005, which displaced tens of thousands of residents in Louisiana and killed more tea.

Trump has responded to such criticisms by committing to completely eliminating Fema and redistributing his functions to individual states.

“When there is a problem with the State, I think that problem should take care of tasks by the State,” Trump said in January. “For that we have states. They take care of the problems. And a governor can handle something very quickly, do you know?”

Duration of his campaign for re -election in 2024, Hey also spread falsehoods about the agency, including that he had refused to sacrifice relief to Republican residents in North Carolina, who had recently suffered generalized by the hurricane.

Since he assumed the position in January, Trump has continued with his plans to restructure the federal government, reducing financing and staff to independent entities such as the United States Agency for International Development (CFB). And the consumer) and the consumer). And the consumer) and the consumer).

Trump and his allies have framed the cut as necessary to combat “fraud” and “waste” throughout the government, although he has not offered definitive evidence of irregularities.

In FEMA, it is estimated that 2,000 employees were dismissed or accepted purchase sacrifices to resign. A report from the Government Office of the Government of 2023 indicated that FEMA only had 5,000 full -time personnel members, as well as a group of reservists and emergency response workers to those who could be called to address a crisis.

Becoming the FEMA administrator requires undergoing a Senate confirmation hearing and a vote.

But while those Senate audiences continue for high -level government posts, Trump has appointed intermediate leaders to govern the organization in the average average.

Cameron Hamilton, a former Navy Seal, served in that role when Trump began his second term.

He had been an outstanding FEMA critic during the administration of former President Joe Biden. But his time as Chief of FEMA reached an abrupt stop earlier this week, following an appearance before a subcommittee of appropriations in the House of Representatives.

At Wednesday’s audience, a Democratic representative, Rosa Delauro from Connecticut, asked Hamilton about the idea that Fema could be closed.

Hamilton responded with the measure measured. “I don’t think it’s the best for the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” he said.

He added that, ultimately, it was not his decision to make and criticize FEMA as part of a “overextended federal bureaucracy.”

“I am not in a position to make decisions and impact the results on whether a determination, such as the consequent, as it should be done. That is a conversation that should be between the president of the United States and this governing body,” Hamilton told The Commy.

But the next day, Hamilton was withdrawn from his interim head of Fema and replaced by Richardson, a veteran sailor.

Critics, including the Deluro representative, criticized the change as an indicative of a White House that will not tolerate, dissent, even when necessary.

“The Trump administration must explain why [Hamilton] It has been eliminated from this position, “Delauro said in a statement.” Integrity and morals should not cost him his work. “

Meanwhile, Richardson has prosecuted to establish a stricter tone for his mandate, with his burning telephone call on Friday. He warned FEMA personnel that any action that is not “within our missions” would be considered a waste of taxpayers funds.

“We are going to discover how to do things better. We will discover how to bring things to the states that should be done at the state level. We will also discover that we can make more costs shared with the United States,” he said.

Trump has been criticized for denying assistance requests, including states led by Republicans as Arkansas, who suffered the duration of tornadoes on March 14, destroying neighborhoods. Multiple deaths were reported.

The governor of Arkansas, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who worked as Trump press secretary, her first mandate, has written to the president to appeal her denial of help.

“Since 2023, Arkansas has experienced an unprecedented frequency of disasters, with four federal declared disasters and ten disasters decorated in the State. These overlapping events have severely tensioned the capacity of state and local agencies to respond and recover effectively,” wrote Huckabee Sanders.

“Many Arkansan still live in temporary conditions or repair damage to previous events, only to be displaced or impacted once again. The State and its citizens need help help to recover, rebuild and mitigate even more.”