Become a paid subscriber to gain access to our private Discord server, subscriber-only AMAs, chats, and invites to events. LEAKED AUDIO: Acting FEMA Director’s Plan for "FEMA 2.0"Drop Site has obtained leaked audio from acting FEMA director David Richardson.
Thursday, May 15, 2025, at 2:00pm EST, the new acting director of FEMA, David Richardson, held a “town hall” with staff. Drop Site obtained 30 minutes of leaked audio from today’s meeting, as well as 10 minutes of leaked audio from Richardson’s introductory meeting on Friday, May 9, 2025. Both are transcribed in full below., The former acting director, Cameron Hamilton, was fired just one day after giving Congressional testimony, where he stated: “I do not believe it is in the best interest of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency.” Many have credited this statement for his ouster, including one FEMA employee who told Drop Site, “since Cam said he didn’t think getting rid of FEMA was good for the country, Trump fired him.” During today’s town hall, when Richardson was asked “which is more important, the President's will or the interests of the American people?” Richardson told staff “to me, they're the same thing.” Rambling at times, Richardson spoke about putting “a large part of response and recovery down to the states,” and conducting “mission analysis,” which involves identifying “all of the laws that govern FEMA,” and limiting operations only to what is required by law. Richardson calls the new mission and direction for the federal agency “FEMA 2.” When asked about DOGE’s involvement in FEMA, Richardson told staff that he wrote a memo to DOGE today, saying, “you don't make any decisions” for FEMA. At one point during the town hall, Richardson told FEMA staff that just “the other day” he learned from his “girlfriend” that “Texas is bigger than Spain.” He continued, “I didn't know that. So I looked at the map. Texas is huge! I mean, if you put it in the middle of Europe, it takes up most of Europe up.” Town Hall Meeting: May 15, 2025Richardson: Although I normally speak extemporaneously, I've got some information that I do have to ask—either verbatim or near verbatim. So, I want to make sure that I was in the atmosphere where I could do that. This will take me probably 10, maybe 15 minutes, and then we'll turn to whatever the questions that we can answer in the last 15 minutes are. Okay. So I know, I know there's folks out there that wanna ask questions. That's probably the main reason folks tuned in. So I promise we will get to that. What I want to talk about is where we've been the last week, regarding two things. The mission analysis which I directed to happen last week via this memo and I asked everyone to read it, and also the initial determination of the FY25 preparedness for disaster season. The first thing I want to go over is a complex problem solving session we did so that we could make sure that by getting ready for this season. We were tackling the main problems that would be in our way to get ready for disaster season, and there is a tool for that. As I just mentioned, it's called complex problem solving. And essentially what complex problem solving consists of is making sure that you understand the background of a problem that you're facing. But you don’t know what the problem is yet, so you have to understand the background of the issue. And, this year, it was hurricane season or disaster season ‘25. And then what you do is you identify whatever problem it is that you're trying to provide a course of action to solve. I'm going to get to both those in a second. So, we spent quite a bit of time talking about the background and where we were right now for disaster season ‘25. And I'm not going to go all into the background with you. But, in the end, we began to ask the question: what is our biggest challenge in the form of a question for getting ready for disaster season 25? And I asked and I stated the question, I think it was the first one. And I said essentially we're not ready for disaster season ‘25, which we found out was not necessarily the case. Indeed, we are to some degree, and to a great degree ready for disaster season 25. In the end, after about 15 iterations of the problem statement, okay, we came to a final problem statement that sounded like this: FEMA and their partners do not understand the administration's intent for impending disaster operations to meet expectations while evolving towards the future of FEMA. And that is the problem that we had to solve. And that came down to a couple of courses of action, which were essentially we would define what the intent, the administration's intent, for FEMA for this disaster season and the future work. And this is how the intent worked out. Listen closely. The intent for disaster season 2025: safeguard the American people, return primacy to the states, strengthen their capability to respond and recover and coordinate federal assistance when deemed necessary while transforming to the future of FEMA. So that's where we are right now. And this morning we began, for about 90 minutes, a section of the staff and I, to develop a plan to address disaster season 2025. We've got quite a long way because we've already got a lot of information on that. We've done things in the past that uh, lead right into what we're doing now. Obviously, if we hadn't done things in the past more relevant to the future to now, we'd be in great trouble, but we're not, and I would say we're about 80 or 85% there. The next week we will close that gap and get to probably 97, 98% of a plan. We'll never have 100% of a plan. Even if we did have 100% of a plan, a plan never survives first contact. However, we will do our best to make sure that the plan is all-encompassing. What does the plan include? It includes things like tabletop exercises at the cabinet, state and then of course within– at the regional levels as well. It includes things like pre positioning information on that. It includes drills and what do I know? Who needs to know it, and have I told them yet? So, that is the plan and that is how we will write it and play out. I intend to be done with the plan, not in July, not in June, but very likely next Friday. I would like to lay the plan on the table in its glossiest form to Secretary Noam, so she can take a look at it. I will likely have already signed it. If there's sections of this she doesn't like, that's okay. But we are going to start passing information on how to implement the plan as early as next Monday or Tuesday, guidance on pre positioning, some guidance for the regional ministers and administrators and that type of thing. So that's where we are on getting ready for disaster season. Now, that essentially addressed the initial determination of FY25 preparedness. I know that the staff still has information to pass to me. I think it's on day– May 15th and May 22nd and that will be incoming and that was to help inform the plan for disaster season 2025. The other issue, the other memorandum which was outlining FEMA's mission analysis for 2025 FY25, there will be an action plan associated with it. So we can address things in the mission analysis that we need to address. Now real quickly, what mission analysis does is mission analysis design identifies all of the laws that govern FEMA, because within those laws are specified tasks. And I think there's probably 6 or 7 laws or acts that guide FEMA. Within those laws or acts wherever they are, Stafford Act, the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and there's others, the post Katrina, I think it was a bill or an act, I can't remember. There are specified tasks and I assume there's roughly somewhere between 150 and 175 specified tasks. And each one of those tests specified tasks can be binned into categories. So we'll make sure we capture all of the tasks which I know that folks are doing that today and then we will bin them. And by bin them, I mean some of those, some of those tasks will be kind of orange-like tasks. And by orange, I mean the fruit orange, but they might be tangerines, they might be blood oranges, it just might be maybe a little bit of grapefruit. All those will go in one bin. Then you have all of the banana type things, whether they're plantains or they're big bananas or small bananas, they go all go into another pile. Okay, so you get about 7 or 8 piles of similar but not the exact same things. And they will constitute our mission essential tasks. So we'll have our specified tasks, our mission essential task, and from those we will also make sure that we state our mission very, very clearly if it's not already, alright. And then, instead of matching those to the current organization, we will make sure the current organization is matched to the mission essential tasks. And where the current, the current organization doesn't fit with the mission of such task, that is where we will make changes. So, I don't want to call it a surgical method because doesn't really apply here, but there is a method to—and it's orderly how we will make sure that our organization is matched to our mission, essential tasks, which is matched to our mission. Here's the key thing about this whole exercise. In the end, we will know that the things we are doing are only things that we have to be doing, okay. We will not do anything that's not in statute. If we are doing things that are not in statute, we are wasting the American people's money, okay? Somebody else might be available to do it, but we are not going to do it. So, we're only going to do those things that are in statute, and that is how FEMA 2 is going to operate. We will only do things that are in statute. “FEMA 2” will also, as I call it FEMA 2, might just call it new version of FEMA. We will begin in our plan, as alluded to, in the intent, we will return promising to the states for emergency or what I call crisis action. Okay. Strengthen the capability to respond, recover and coordinate federal assistance when deemed necessary while transforming to the future of FEMA. So, FEMA 2 will look different than FEMA 1. There'll be much more emphasis on the states to do response and recovery, and to some degree preparedness as well, of course. So, that is what we have in mind. So now that I've said that, did I miss anything? (I don't think so.) I think you'll have an opportunity to, I guess. Did I miss anything? (I don't think so.) Done this so many times. It's kind of getting to be old hat. Okay, so now the moment everybody's been waiting for and we're not all crowded in the basement, it's not hot and I've been able to actually read things clearly. We can go ahead and open the floor to questions. I know there's some prepared, if they're not prepared questions because I have not seen the questions for the most part. I saw one of them. It was a particular hard one to answer, but I had the answer immediately, so it really wasn't that bad. Let's go. Subscribe to Drop Site News FEMA Employee: Sure. So Sir, people have been posting questions in the chat. I will read their questions verbatim from the chat. And as you said, you've not seen them before. So first, you've previously stated “I will achieve the President's intent.” What is the President's intent for FEMA? Richardson: The President’s intent for FEMA is to ensure that FEMA is only doing the things in law that it should be doing. That's number one. Okay, so that's what we're doing with the mission analysis. It's also for FEMA, is to push a large part of response and recovery down to the state level. Okay, So that you can imagine that makes FEMA look very, very different. What it's going to look like in the end, we'll find out. Remember, the President is a bold man, President has a bold vision, and he makes bold statements and I will go back or the secretary will go back with a, a vision or, or a version of FEMA that we feel that fits his vision. That's what I just said. Okay. We will do only things that are in the statutes and we'll put a large part of response and recovery down to the states. In fact, that's how we used to do Emergency Management, as I've been told in the last week, over the last 10 years in particular, we've taken on a lot of the burden of what used to be done at the state level. Does that answer the question? (Believe it does.) Okay FEMA Employee: The next question, can we please discuss downsizing? Are there plans for it and if the president and the secretary feel the organization should be abolished? Richardson: So, uh, look, FEMA has a statutory mission, so if we're going to completely abolish FEMA, okay, we will either have to find a different FEMA to do those missions, or we will have to change the law. And downsizing, look, I can say that there's not going to be any downsizing, and things are going to be– look just like they are 6 months from now. But think about it, that the president's vision is indeed to push elements of preparedness, response and recovery down to the state level. There will very, very likely be reductions in force at FEMA because the states will take on those functions. Does that answer the question? FEMA Employee: Yes. Next question, what role, if any, will you have in the activities of the FEMA Review Council? Richardson: Um. Since I'm the, looking for that title, the what's– call me the acting administrator preparing the duty, performing the duties out art is formerly known as. I don't know very little likely OK, I'll be aware of what they do. Remember they're making decisions about FEMA. OK, they might approach me for information on FEMA, but since I'm in the chair now, I will likely very likely not be making the decisions. I will very likely be the executor of the decisions. Does that make sense? Okay. So, I'm the guy that's going to do the labor. I've been there before. Next. FEMA Employee: Right. The next question: which is more important, the President's will or the interests of the American people? Richardson: Well, to me, they're the same thing. Okay. What you're implying is there are two different things. I don't think they are. I think that he's the, he's the president of the United States and he has the best interest of the American people in mind. So I think those two things are essentially the same. I think President Trump supports say, say that, say the two categories again? FEMA Employee: The president's will or the interests of the American people? Richardson: Yes, I think through his will the president will maintain and ensure the best interest of the American people. FEMA Employee: Okay, the next question, some of us live more than 50 miles from our duty stations. Will we all be given the opportunity to transfer to a FEMA facility that is closer to our homes? Richardson: So I don't know. And I just, I know this topic in detail and I know in detail because every time it comes up, a, uh, attorney, has to sit me down and he'll say something like ‘these are the parameters.’ And this has changed here and there. Oay. I do know that CWMD folks, when I was over there as a, some secretary, were given an opportunity to go to an alternate facility. Alright. That may or may not be the case, but it's something that we should put on the calendar that I need to take a look at and what that's coming because we do, we do owe an answer for folks. Yes, I don't know the exact answer, but we will find out because that that changes a little bit as we move forward. FEMA Employee: With the upcoming hurricane season looming, will we have job security with the uncertainty of the FEMA being dissolved? If not, will there be a heads up provided? Richardson: I'll give you the heads up as soon as I can. So, we do need– many, many of us. I'm not going to say all, I'm not going to say the majority, but we will– I think addressing this hurricane season, this disaster season, we're in a transition phase. It's not going to look entirely different of how we did in 2024, but it's not necessarily going to look like how we're going to do it in 2026. So there's a transition period, and normally a transition period, there's going to be, we'll take some risk, but I don't want to take too much risk because remember, the president's will and the American people's interests I believe are the same. And I'm here to make sure that is the case so that we can respond to the disaster season. Answered the question? FEMA Employee: Yes, as we focus on our disaster efforts, when will we plan for non disaster programs and actions? Richardson: That will have to be once we get, once we get our plan in place, we've got to get the 2025 disaster plan in place. That should be next week, and then we'll start passing information on it, affecting the plan, making sure it's rolling down the road, and then we'll start doing steady state operations. But I can give you a peek into something. We are going to write, and I don't know if you've ever done this before. We are going to write essentially a 2026 to 2030 strategy that covers that, so that we can have some consistency across time. That in particular, I think is what helps an organization, if you can write a strategy for that far out. Of course, at CWMD, we're going to write one for 2040, but it's a little bit different because we have to develop capability and that type of thing. This is essentially how we would see the organization evolving and getting better over time. Have you done that before? Written a– okay. So you've done that before. So there's already a template in place. Like most things, it's not a new idea, so we'll just keep moving that direction. FEMA Employee: Okay. If states haven't budgeted, hired or trained staff to handle the response and recovery, what timeline do you expect to make this a reality? Richardson: Well. Um. That's a great question. So how, how, how are we going to essentially effect the transition? It's interesting because I just had a talk with someone today because there was a fire, I think it was in Minnesota, or there's also one in New Mexico. And I asked the folks, I said, hey, we talked to the governor, give them a heads up. 50/50 might be coming, 75/25 right now, but 50/50 is coming. So part of it is giving, letting people know as we transition, okay, that if it doesn't happen this year, it will very, very likely happen next year. Uh, we will transition this summer to something else, so I'm not sure if we can completely overcome the budget challenges, but we will at least be uncovering and discovering ways to do that. You know, some states are pretty good at this. The other day I was chatting with my girlfriend, she's from Texas. She's got like huge red hair. Like, she's from Texas. And I said something and she said, well, you know, oh, I know what it was. I said, how come it takes so long to drive 10 hours from Galveston to Amarillo? And she said, well, you know, Texas is bigger than Spain. I didn't know that. So I looked at the map. Texas is huge! I mean, if you put it in the middle of Europe, it takes up most of Europe up. However, they do disaster recovery very, very well, and so does Florida, okay. So, we should be able to take some lessons learned on how Florida and Texas do their disaster recovery, we’ve got to spread that around and get other folks do it some way. And there should be some budgeting things that they have, I bet. I bet Governor Abbott has a rainy day fund for fires and tornadoes and disasters such as hurricanes, and he doesn't spend it on something else. What else? FEMA Employee: Okay. So, you've spoken about FEMA 2. How does the administration plan to ensure continuity of FEMA's statutory national training and education *inaudible* responsibilities, especially those outlined in six US Code 748 and 313? Richardson: That's my job. That's why we're doing mission analysis. So I know exactly what's in statute and what's not in statute. If you ever take over this organization, I would advise everybody on this phone call to simply do a mission analysis. Okay, what most people do, I’m not criticizing them because they just don't know. Is they go in an organization, they look at it and they say, I'm going to change this organization. So what they do is they, they, they stir up, they stir the pot, they change the organization around, hoping for different outcomes. But that's like moving the furniture around in your living room and looking for a different seat to sit on. It's just not going to work. You know, you move the furniture around, you might have a slightly different view, but it's the same furniture. You want to do a you want to get a decorator in there which to get rid of and which to keep. That's what Mission Analysis does. What else? FEMA Employee: What are your intentions for mitigation? You have only mentioned preparedness, response and recovery. Richardson: Um, save that for the next time we talk, but I will, I will, I will look, I think mitigation, I think mitigation, I am going to answer that. I think mitigation should be tied to the grants processes. For example, we have a, I call it an inspections function. I think, I think the polite word for it is audit. I think mitigation should be tied to how well a state does when they're audited for how well they prepare. Does that make sense? Okay. FEMA Employee: Okay. What role will DOGE have in approving your plans? Richardson: Doge doesn't approve anything back. I wrote a memo today to make sure that Doge had, you know, the freedom to ask any questions they needed. And I believe the second paragraph, second sentence of the second paragraph said to Doge, and you don't make any decisions. I'm, I'm the decider. Remember that old thing I had? I and I alone speak for FEMA. I know not everybody liked it. It's part of the reason I said it, because Doge doesn't speak for FEMA either. That's me. What else? FEMA Employee: Okay. Is FEMA going to combine regional offices? Richardson: There's no plan for that. However, once we've done the mission analysis, we–if it drives that decision, then we could change it. But once again, that's why we're going to the mission analysis. But I– I haven't run across any reason for that. But when you do mission analysis, sometimes you– you discover things that you didn't know. They're essentially opening up all the closets and arranging them. Make sure you don't want to take any of your old shoes to the clothes bin. Next. FEMA Employee: Okay. What are your primary objectives over the next three months? Richardson: Well, number one, just to make sure that we are prepared for disaster season, okay? And that means having the disaster plan written, Okay. I know how folks write plans. They usually take a long time to do it. We don't have a long time to get it done. I like a lot of the plans that are already in place at FEMA. But we need one specific to this disaster season. We will do the mission analysis, okay? And we will also begin looking at what FEMA 2 is going to be– going to– going to look like. And if FEMA 2 is going to look radically different from FEMA one, we will start figuring out how we are going to make those changes, because at some time in the next six or seven months, we have to know what it looks like. But the number one priority is to make sure that the– that the American people are well served in this disaster season. I will be traveling some because I need to get eyes on target, figure out what's going on down range. I need to get with the regional administrators. I want to go to the state level. I particularly want to see how Texas and Florida have their disaster plans and their disaster preparedness set up. But I also want to go to other states to find out how they don't have it set up. But I'm not going to name those states. But yes, I'll be doing some travelling as well. I also have a team, two teams that are going to travel around to see how well we are prepared for disaster season. Once again, my initial look is, we're pretty well prepared. This was the big thing to make sure that we understood what the intent was. I got a phone call the other day. I think it was from, I'm not sure he said his name, on accident. Not on accident, but I kind of absent mindedly hit the green button on my phone. This guy, from some cable news station. They were starting to ask me about complex problem solving. At first I was kind of confused. I had no idea what it was, But he told me like you've got a leaker out there and I can get anything I want from the leaker. I said that's fine with me. Nothing, none, of it's classified and all of it I can support. But he said, you know, I don't really want to talk about the leaker and I don't really want to talk about, you know, the details of your complex problem solving because I don't really care about the the floods and the Hurricanes and the all that other kind of stuff. I got a problem here at this news station. I need you to help me with our ratings are falling and I hope you can apply your complex problem solving to it. But I told him I was busy. I said, because my number one priority right now is planning for hurricane season. I'm not even going to use the complex problem solving methodology to root out who's the leaker. So be it. What else? FEMA Employee: Okay. I think this is the last question we have time for. What if the states don't have the capacity or ability to absorb those tasks that you think should be pushed to the states? Richardson: Back to the intent, we did a pretty good job on this, by the way. So I'm able to answer a bunch of questions from the intent. [reading] ‘and coordinate federal assistance when deemed necessary.’ OK? So if they need it, we're going to help them out, but we're going to try to hold them to 75/25, OK? But where they need it, obviously we're going to have to deem it necessary to help out. I think we have time for one more. FEMA Employee: Okay. Richardson: How many is that by the way? FEMA Employee: We're–I've asked about 15 of the 18 questions that we've had here. Richardson: Oh, let's just go to the end. Come on. FEMA Employee: Okay. What programs are you targeting for reduction? Richardson: Uh. [shuffling papers] Where's it, where's my, where's my mission? I've got to do the mission analysis first, okay. And that's going to tell me what's inside the statutory and outside the statutory. If you're outside the statutory, you will become a target. I don't know that yet. FEMA Employee: Okay. When is the reduction in force supposed to start? Richardson: Uh. I don't know. I need to ask that question. I don't even know. That's going back and forth from it's happening, it's not happening, it's happening, it's not happening. I have an attorney that's going to give me some advice on that. The answer: I don't know. And you say, well, you should know that. I said, well, I knew it a month ago, but I don't think it's the same now as it was a month ago. Okay? I've heard there's actually not going to be a rift, but I don't want to say that officially because somebody will repeat it, but I'll find out. FEMA Employee: Okay. Last question, Administrator Richardson, what is your personal stance on FEMA? Richardson: My personal stance on FEMA, listen very, very closely, is that I will make sure that the President's intent is done for FEMA. All-staff Meeting: May 9, 2025On Friday, May 9, 2025, FEMA employees were invited to an all-staff meeting with the instruction: “do not bring phones or devices to this meeting.” One employee told Drop Site, “In all my time in FEMA I’ve never received a message that said don’t bring phones or devices to this meeting.” One employee told Drop Site that staff have been “threatened with polygraph testing” if suspected of leaking to the press. However, that hasn’t stopped FEMA employees from sharing the contents of Richardson’s unhinged monologue, where he infamously tells FEMA staff, “don't get in my way.” The full ten minute audio obtained by Drop Site from Richardson’s introductory speech is transcribed below. Richardson: Now, once again, I can't recall the full title, but essentially, I'm acting. I've seen people that are not acting, that have the full title or something, that don't get anything done. Okay, I don't need very much authority to get everything done I need to do. I don't need the full title. All I need is the authority from the President to put me in here as some degree of acting, and I will make sure that his intent gets completed. I don't stop at yield signs, in other words. I've already talked about the two memos. Once again, I'll send the memos out today. Everybody will see them after I discuss them with the staff. Normally what I would do is I would draft the memo, legal would look at it, the staff would get a day or two to help me with bottom up refinement, and then I would release it. However, I started yesterday and I already consider myself behind schedule because I didn't issue the memos yesterday but I didn't start till 2:00 so if I can issue them today by 9:30 I think I will have caught up. Now, this is the tough part. Most of you know this by intuition, but nobody's ever told you this. When somebody comes to an organization, and there's going to be change, it's recognized that everybody's somewhat nervous or somewhat concerned. Understandable. What's not known is that between 10 and 20% of personnel will embrace change. They'll welcome it. And they understand that change handled right is progress and they understand that it's necessary and they see that needs to be made. That's somewhere between 10 and 20%. Something like 60%, they don't care, right, they go along, to get along and I completely understand that. I've been in a situation before where I went along to get along. However, there's somewhere south of 20% that decide that they are going to get in the way of change. You can ask anybody, that those 20% of the people are a problem. And they have to be sidelined. So, don't get in my way, if you're those 20% of the people. I know all the tricks, Okay? I know them from last corporals. I know them from staff sergeants, lieutenants, federal employees, my own employees, and indeed myself. Okay, I played the games too. Obfuscation, delay, undermining. If you're one of those 20% of the people and you think those tactics and techniques are going to help you, they will not because I will run right over you. I will achieve the president's intent. I am as bent on achieving the president's intent as I was on making sure that I did my duty. When I took my Marines to Iraq, 11 of them, and fought alongside people that didn't speak my language, that didn't have my customs, that I couldn't understand anything. And they yelled on the radio that I was determined to carry out that mission the same way as I am determined to carry out the president's mission. There was one person on my team that I had to send away and I sent them home and they explained to the Second Marine Division, while they didn't – why they didn't complete the deployment. I never asked them what they said. I didn't need to because the rest of the Second Marine Division knew that they must have not been on my sheet of music. So, I sent them away, because I had too important of a mission for anybody to undermine me or to make things difficult. It's the mission of FEMA. We're going to know our mission. We're going to do our mission. We are going to find out how to do things better and we are going to find out how to push things down to the states that should be done at the state level. We're also going to find out how we can do more cost sharing with the states. There's a program out there called Securing the Cities. Securing the cities is a there's 13 cities across the country that counter weapons of mass destruction, has cooperative cooperative agreements with, where the state, mostly the cities like New York, they receive grants from DHS, but there are strings attached to those grants. For example, they have to run exercises twice a year and the assistant secretary, it's CWMD, has to observe the exercises and make sure that the exercises *inaudible* the problem we are trying to solve. Recently I went to New York City and I watched one of the tabletop exercises and indeed, they did a very, very good job with their exercise. But that's a string that is attached to the money that the federal government or the grant that the federal government gives New York City. Those are some of the things on the president's agenda. There are more. There is a FEMA council being stood up that I will work with closely. It includes folks like Governor Noam, Governor Abbott or not, Governor, Secretary Noam, Governor Abbott, Governor Yonkin and some other folks. We will work with them to see how we can hone and refine FEMA's mission. Last thing, I won't take questions today. I'm great at playing stump the chump. OK. When I taught at the first, when I taught at the field artillery school, I was kind of a hapless captain that had just been promoted, came out of a firing battery, which is kind of a rough and tumble existence. And I landed at the field artillery school. They taught me how to get on stage, through murder boards, and teach the classes about artillery tactics, calling in artillery fire, and advising the infantry. And it was just my luck that I got a class full of West Point graduates. I graduated from a school that didn't even have a cardinal direction, and there I was teaching West Point graduates, some of the smartest kids in the country. And we played Stump the Chump for six months. I probably could only answer, in the beginning, one out of every five questions they asked me, but by the end I got adept at it. So, it's not that I'm afraid of questions, but I want you to read the memos. Everybody will get a copy of the memos, work with your sections, divisions, offices, whatever you call them. And then, next week we will have a town hall, where we will ask questions. I'm not sure how you do it here, but I don't take filtered questions. Okay? I don't read the questions beforehand, and decide I'm going to answer them or I don't say that, you know, I don't want to take that question. Obviously, there's some filtering that has to be done because people may ask outlandish questions about something that has nothing to do with FEMA, okay. But, as long as there are questions that have to do about FEMA and the direction we are going, particularly in light of the two action memos that I– were released today, I will answer the questions, OK. But most of the questions that would be asked today would be questions mostly garnered from concern about the future. Read the memos first and then we will have a session where you can ask and I will answer questions. Okay, even if they are stump the chump. Was that 15 minutes? 12? I was hoping for 10. Okay. I will tell you, I don't usually start things out with it's an honor or anything like that. I've laid brick, and while I didn't really lay the brick, I mixed the mortar. I wasn't good enough to lay the brick, and I carried the brick to the dudes on the scaffolding who are usually screaming for more brick and more scaffolding. I've washed dishes before. Me and Hobart, we spend a lot of late nights together. Hobart is the washing machine, by the way, in a restaurant. Um, I built houses. I have my own company. Bottom line, is it's a job for me. It is an honor to be here. This is a large organization. This is unwieldy beast. This is a challenge. And I do appreciate that both President Trump and Secretary Noam and Corey Lewandowski had the confidence in me to send me here to lead this organization. Thank you. Become a Drop Site News Paid SubscriberDrop Site News is reader-supported. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber today. 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