David Richardson reportedly distanced himself from day-to-day operations before resigning from the nation’s top disaster agency

WASHINGTON — David Richardson resigned as the acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, ending a short tenure atop an agency the Trump administration had previously signaled it wanted to dismantle, according to the Washington Post.

The Washington Post reported Richardson, who served about six months as acting head of the nation’s disaster response agency, maintained a low profile and was often difficult to reach, including during the early hours of the Fourth of July weekend flooding in Texas. He resigned on Nov. 17.

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In recent months, FEMA employees said Richardson rarely joined daily operations meetings and seemed to pull back from the role. In one meeting, according to officials, he remarked that he did not expect to remain in the job past Thanksgiving.

Richardson was leading the agency in an acting capacity and maintained both this role and his position at the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction office.

On his first day at FEMA, Richardson held an all-hands meeting where he warned staff, “Don’t get in my way,” and said he was there to carry out the president’s vision for transforming the agency.

“What it’s going to look like in the end, we’ll find out,” he said, adding, “I and I alone speak for FEMA.”

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