The new head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency has threatened to ‘run right over’ staff in his department who resist Donald Trump’s agenda.
David Richardson assumed the role of acting chief at FEMA after the previous leader, Cameron Hamilton, was removed from the position a day after he criticized the president’s plans to dismantle the department.
The new head, holding the title of Senior Official Performing the Duties of FEMA Administrator, was recorded issuing a stern warning during a staff meeting on his first day.
‘Don’t get in my way,’ the former US marine told staffers, according to a recording of the speech obtained by CBS News.
‘I don’t need the full title I just need the authority from the president,’ Richardson continued from behind a presidential-style podium.
‘Obfuscation, delay, undermining. If you’re part of the 20 percent who believe those tactics will benefit you, they won’t, because I will push right past you. I will fulfill the president’s directive.’
‘I, and I alone in FEMA, speak for FEMA,’ Richardson said.
FEMA employees later described the speech to CBS as ‘unhinged’ and ‘terrifying’.
David Richardson, the acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency has threatened to ‘run right over’ staff in his department who resist Donald Trump ‘s agenda
‘Don’t get in my way,’ the former US marine told staffers during the 17 minute speech on his first day
Richardson was appointed after Hamilton was fired on Thursday, days after he broke with Trump during a hearing on Capitol Hill over proposals to take a chainsaw to the national disaster relief agency.
‘I do not believe it is in the best interests of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency,’ Hamilton said.
Richardson however took his first meeting with thousands of his new staff as an opportunity to pledge his allegiance to the president.
‘I am as bent on achieving the President’s intent as I was on making sure that I did my duty, where I took my Marines to Iraq, eleven of them,’ Richardson said on the recording, per CBS.
He previously served as a United States Marine Corps ground combat officer and saw action in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Africa, earning an award for valor in the process.
During the 17-minute speech he told an anecdote about sending a member of the Second Marine Division home from Iraq.
‘I had too important of a mission for anybody to undermine me or to make things difficult,’ Richardson said.
His first act in office was to issue two memos to staff which he encouraged them to read.
Richardson took over as acting chief at FEMA after previous boss Cameron Hamilton (pictured) was booted from the role a day after breaking with the president
Hamilton said he disagreed with Trump’s desire to take a chainsaw to FEMA
The incoming head, whose title is Senior Official Performing the Duties of FEMA Administrator, was caught on camera issuing the stark warning during a staff meeting on his first day
They demand that employees produce reports and data outlining FEMA’s readiness for 2025 and any potential weaknesses.
He said his first day would be spent, ‘looking at all the laws and statutes that guide FEMA and making sure that we are only doing the things that are within the law.’
‘If we’re not doing that, we are wasting the American taxpayer dollars,’ he said.
The administrator said that a town hall event would be held at a later date where staff can ask questions.
Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said the recordings of the speech, ‘sounds like a productive first meeting’.
DailyMail.com has contacted FEMA for comment.
Richardson hails from Waterford, Michigan and was previously appointed as the Assistant Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security’s Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office, according to his official biography.
He also taught history at George Washington University, as well as strategy at the US Army Field Artillery School and Marine Corps Martial Arts.
