FEMA Urban Search and Rescue chief resigns
Ken Pagurek has left the organization, citing 'chaos'
What happened
The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Urban Search and Rescue unit, Ken Pagurek, has left the organization, citing "chaos" at the agency, said The New York Times. Pagurek had served in FEMA's USR division for more than a decade.
Who said what
Pagurek's resignation comes just weeks after a "delayed FEMA response to catastrophic flooding in central Texas," caused in part by "bureaucratic hurdles" put in place by the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the disaster aid agency, said CNN. The Hill Country floods, which left more than 100 people dead, were Pagurek's "final straw," said the Times.
It's "laughable" that Pagurek would "choose to resign" over DHS' "refusal to hastily approve a six-figure deployment contract without basic financial oversight," said Department of Homeland Security Spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.
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What next?
The Trump administration has made little secret of its plans to wind down FEMA entirely. However, after the Texas floods, said the Times, administration officials are "no longer speaking about a wholesale demolishing of the agency."
