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FEMA Administrator Brock Long Resigns

HeadlineFeb 14, 2019

The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Brock Long, said Wednesday he is resigning his post after less than two years on the job. Long’s resignation came after a government auditor found he improperly used government vehicles to travel to and from his home in North Carolina. As FEMA administrator, Brock Long oversaw the Trump administration’s widely criticized response to devastating wildfires in California and other western states, as well as a series of major hurricanes in 2017—Harvey, Irma and Maria. Last year, a George Washington University study commissioned by Puerto Rico’s governor found over 3,000 people died as a direct result of Hurricane Maria. After Donald Trump disputed the findings, Brock Long defended the president.

Brock Long: “These studies are all over the place. The Harvard study was done differently, studies a different period of time, versus the George Washington study. There’s a big discrepancy, whether it’s direct deaths or indirect deaths.”

In response to Brock Long’s resignation Wednesday, San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz tweeted, “Brock Long was Trump’s hatchet man in the botched Puerto Rican relief effort after hurricanes Irma and María. He should have been fired and held accountable for the loss of lives.” Deputy FEMA chief Peter Gaynor will serve as acting administrator until the Senate confirms a replacement.

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