Brock Long, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), denied on Sunday that he was asked to consider resigning over alleged misuse of government vehicles.
“Let me go ahead and clear up the facts. [Department of Homeland Security] Secretary [Kirstjen] Nielsen has never asked me to resign. We have a very functional and professional relationship. We talk every day, we are both solely focused on Florence,” Long said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Long was asked about a Wall Street Journal article published Saturday that reported senior White House officials discussed replacing Long prior to Hurricane Florence’s formation because of an investigation into the FEMA chief’s potential misuse of federal resources.
{mosads}Long is facing an inspector general investigation over his alleged use of government vehicles and staff to drive him from his office in Washington, D.C., to his home in North Carolina. Staffers were then allegedly put up in hotels at taxpayer expense.
Politico reported last week that Long was told last year that his trips violated the law, and that Nielsen asked him to consider resigning.
Long said Sunday that he has no intention of resigning, and defended his actions, arguing that he used the vehicles to carry out the responsibilities associated with his job leading FEMA.
“The FEMA administration position I hold is incredibly complex,” he said. “I have a very critical and important role to make sure this government works on the nation’s worst days.”
“The program was developed back in 2008. It ran for me the same way it’s run for anybody else,” Long continued. “It’s my understanding that maybe some policies were not developed around these vehicles that we will get cleared up and push forward.”
Long has continued to lead FEMA as the agency deals with significant damage along the mid-Atlantic coast associated with now-Tropical Storm Florence. The storm slammed the Carolinas in recent days, resulting in roughly a dozen deaths as of Sunday morning.