FEMA chief stepped down after questions

Authorities looked into Long’s use of government vehicles for travel

WASHINGTON» Less than two years into a tenure marked by five major hurricanes, multiple lethal wildfires and a tense relationship with his boss, Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator William “Brock” Long resigned Wednesday “to go home to my family,” as he put it in an official statement released by the agency. Peter Gaynor, who has served as Long’s deputy, will assume acting administrator duties.

“This is one of the toughest decisions I have ever had to make. Thank you for an incredible journey and for the support you have shown me,” Long wrote in a long farewell letter emailed at 3:12 p.m. to FEMA staffers.

Long clashed with his direct superior, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, in September, when Nielsen appeared intent on forcing Long out of his job even as Hurricane Florence dumped historic amounts of rain on the Carolinas. The relationship deteriorated when an internal investigation became public. The inspector general for Homeland Security looked into Long’s use of government vehicles to travel between Washington and his home in North Carolina.

In the middle of the storm, Long told colleagues at FEMA that he was on the verge of quitting. But he was popular in the agency and stayed — until Wednesday, when he surprised his colleagues with his decision to leave.

In an interview with The Washington Post in September, Long called his relationship with Nielsen “professional and functional” and added, “We both understand what needs to be done.” But behind the scenes, Nielsen was irritated with Long for not attending early morning meetings with top-level DHS staffers, and she disapproved of his absences from Washington when he visited his family in North Carolina, an administration official said in September.

The FEMA administrator has an unusual role. FEMA is part of Homeland Security, so Nielsen was Long’s boss, but a FEMA administrator simultaneously has authority to offer advice directly to the president during disasters. This competing chain of command contributed to the friction between Nielsen and Long, several current and former administration officials said.

Long, who had many years of experience in emergency management, easily won Senate confirmation when nominated to the FEMA post two years ago. He quickly had his hands full when Hurricane Harvey slammed into Texas and dropped feet of rain, flooding Houston and killing dozens of people. That was soon followed by two more major hurricanes, Irma and Maria, and then controversy over the administration’s response to Maria, which left a death toll in Puerto Rico of nearly 3,000.

This past year saw two more epic hurricanes, Florence and Michael, and fatal wildfires in California.

“No one could have ever predicted the challenges we would face,” Long wrote in his farewell letter. “Over the past two years, we led this Nation through the toughest series of disasters ever experienced — our mission spanning half the globe.”

He also had to handle internal agency problems. He launched a campaign against sexual harassment, dubbed “Not on My Watch,” through which he vowed to eradicate what he called a “culture” of misconduct he said has persisted at FEMA for years. In August, he revealed misconduct allegations against the agency’s former personnel chief, who Long said was preying on female employees and in some cases transferring them to different offices to be near male staffers.