FEMA head, investigated over vehicle use, resigns
The head of WASHINGTON — the Federal Emergency Management Agency resigned Wednesday after a two-year tenure in which he managed the response to historic wild- fires and major hurricanes but was dogged by questions over his use of government vehicles.
Brock Long said in a letter to FEMA employees that he was resigning to spend more time at home with his fam- ily. His last day is March 8.
He did not mention the investigation by the agen- cy’s watchdog that found he had used government vehi- cles without authorization, costing taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars. Home- land Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said last fall that Long would repay t he government and would not lose his job.
Nielsen said Long led the agency admirably. “I appreciate his tireless ded- ication to FEMA and his com- mitment to fostering a cul- ture of preparedness across the nation,” she said in a statement.
His deputy, Pete Gaynor, will become acting head of the agency.
Word leaked of the internal probe in September, just as Hurricane Florence was land- ing in the Carolinas. Home- land Security officials said there had been a longstand- ing practice of FEMA admin- istrators using government vehicles to ensure they could remain connected during a crisis. But the use of govern- ment vehicles for home-towork travel was not officially authorized, and that practice was eliminated in April.
The report by Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General also found Long used government vehicles for non-official reasons. It said this cost taxpayers $94,000 in staff salary, $55,000 in travel expenses and $2,000 in vehicle maintenance.
Long said he accepted full responsibility for the unauthorized use of the vehicles.
He took over FEMA in June 2017, presiding over a particularly grueling hurricane season that included Irma, Harvey and Maria, plus wildfires in California that were the deadliest ever for the state.