Former FEMA Chief: Trump Administration Dropped Plan to Eliminate Agency

David Richardson, who ran FEMA as acting administrator for much of 2025, says in a new book that the Trump administration abandoned its push to shut down 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 September 3, 2026.