The Department of Homeland Security slammed FEMA’s former urban search and rescue chief after reports said his recent resignation was due to the Trump administration imposing policies that delayed disaster response to the deadly flood that devastated Texas earlier this month.
Sources familiar with the resignation told The New York Times that Ken Pagurek, who stepped down on Monday, first expressed concerns over the administration’s changes causing disruptions since the start of hurricane season.
Pagurek was especially concerned with a new policy that required Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to personally sign off on contracts or grants for more than $100,000.
“This decision was not made lightly, and after much reflection and prayer, it is the right path for me at this time,” Pagurek wrote in a resignation letter obtained by CNN. “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.”
The letter did not mention Texas, but two sources familiar with Pagurek’s decision told CNN that DHS obstacles to FEMA’s response during the flooding in Texas on July 4 was Pagurek’s breaking point.
Last month, President Donald Trump said he would start “phasing out” FEMA at the end of this year’s hurricane season in order to reduce federal spending, calling the agency “very, very expensive.”
The New York Times previously reported that nearly two-thirds of calls to FEMA’s disaster assistance line went unanswered in the days following the flood after Noem failed to renew call center contracts. It took five days until after the disaster to reinstate the contracts because Noem needed to sign off on the contracts, which amounted to more than $100,000.
Noem dismissed the Times report as “fake news.”
The Texas flood death toll has risen to at least 135 people, with 107 deaths in Kerr County and three people who remain missing.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson defended the agency’s response to the Texas floods in a statement to HuffPost on Wednesday and scoffed at Pagurek’s decision.
“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,” the statement read. “We’re being responsible with taxpayer dollars, that’s our job. Attempting to spin a personal career decision into some big scandal is ridiculous.”
DHS claimed that FEMA “experienced no delays in deployment of assets, and Texas officials have unequivocally and vocally applauded the federal government and FEMA’s response.”
The statement concluded, “If anyone is upset by the end of unchecked, blank-check spending under President Trump’s administration, that says more about them than it does about us.”