The White House discussed replacing the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency as the east coast braced for Hurricane Florence amid allegations that he improperly used government resources while traveling home to North Carolina from Washington, according to a new report.
FEMA Administrator Brock Long is the subject of a Homeland Security inspector general investigation looking into whether taxpayers inappropriately paid for his travel to Hickory, N.C., on the weekends.
The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that administration officials have considered replacing Long, a day after a Politico report detailed the existence of the investigation.
Long reportedly left agency headquarters on Thursdays for the six-hour drive to his North Carolina home with a group of federal workers in tow. The staffers stayed at nearby hotels at taxpayer expense. Long spent about 150 days in his home state since he became FEMA chief last year, sources told the Wall Street Journal.
The inspector general investigation included surveilling Long as he was driven back to North Carolina, the sources said, even after he was warned last year by DHS attorneys and the inspector general that his trips violated the law.
Long told reporters at a hurricane briefing Thursday that he “would never intentionally run a program incorrectly.” He said he and the agency are “100 percent focused” on hurricane relief efforts.
“That’s exactly where our attention needs to be from the standpoint of the life safety mission,” he said.
White House chief of staff John Kelly reportedly decided to keep Long in his role until the final inspector general report is released.
