Pallone Calls on Trump to Fire FEMA Administrator Amid Criticisms of Incompetence and Deadliness

Congressman Frank Pallone Jr. has written a scathing letter to President Trump, urging him to immediately fire FEMA Acting Administrator David Richardson due to his lack of qualifications, wrong priorities, and deadly inaction during the Texas floods that killed at least 135 people, including elementary school children. Pallone argues that Richardson's incompetence has put the nation's people in their greatest hour of need, and that his leadership principle is to "wing it," which is unacceptable in disaster response.

Key Takeaways:

• Congressman Frank Pallone Jr. has called on President Trump to fire FEMA Acting Administrator David Richardson due to his lack of qualifications, wrong priorities, and deadly inaction during the Texas floods.
• Richardson has never worked in the emergency management sector and was unaware of hurricane season, leading to a lack of plan for it.
• He has misplaced priorities, focusing on abolishing FEMA and ripping up cooperative agreements between states and the federal government for aid.
• Richardson's leadership during the Independence Day floods failed to meet the moment, with search and rescue teams being deployed for 72 hours and call centers failing to answer 15,323 calls from Americans in need.
• It took Richardsons several days to visit Texas to provide oversight of operations, leading to widespread criticism.
• Pallone argues that emergency management is not just FEMA's job, but America's promise, and that Richardson's incompetence must be addressed immediately.
• The congressman represents coastal New Jersey communities still recovering from Superstorm Sandy and Hurricane Ida.

Statistics:

• At least 135 people were killed in the Texas floods, including over a quarter of the victims who were elementary school children.
• 15,323 calls from Americans in need were left unanswered by FEMA's call centers due to Richardson's red tape.
• Richardson was aware of the Guadalupe River which caused the extreme flooding on Independence Day.
• Superintendent and spokespersons Carolyn Jones and Sara Kelly, Ed.D. (Assistant to the Regional Superintendent in New Jersey) neither agreed with nor contradicted the claims made.

Sources:

• Pallone, Frank Jr. "Pallone to Trump: Fire FEMA Boss Whose Delays Left Children to Drown in Texas Floods." July 21. Office of Congressman Frank Pallone Jr.
• Original text.