Former FEMA chief says Trump administration has abandoned goal of eliminating agency

David Richardson, who led FEMA as acting administrator for much of 2025, says in a new book that the Trump administration has dropped its push to eliminate the agency, settling into a "go-along-to-get-along kind of mode." Richardson wrote: "I quickly realized that I would not be the one to transform FEMA or shut it down." NPR reported his account on September 3, 2026.