CNN
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The head of FEMA’s Urban Search and Rescue branch, which runs a network of teams stationed across the country that can swiftly respond to natural disasters, resigned on Monday.
Ken Pagurek’s departure comes less than three weeks after a delayed FEMA response to catastrophic flooding in central Texas caused by bureaucratic hurdles put in place by the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the disaster response agency.
Pagurek told colleagues at FEMA that the delay was the tipping point that led to his voluntary departure after months of frustration with the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the agency, according to two sources familiar with his thinking. It took more than 72 hours after the flooding for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to authorize the deployment of FEMA’s search and rescue network.
After spending more than a decade with FEMA’s urban search and rescue system, including about a year as its chief, Pagurek said in his resignation letter, obtained by CNN, that he was returning to the Philadelphia Fire Department and did not mention the Texas flooding.
“This decision was not made lightly, and after much reflection and prayer, it is the right path for me at this time,” Pagurek wrote. “I have been continually inspired by the unwavering dedication, unmatched courage, and deep-seated commitment we share for saving lives and bringing hope in the face of devastation.”
The Department of Homeland Security has defended its response to the Texas floods. A department spokesperson stressed that Noem initially tapped into other DHS assets, including rescue teams from the US Coast Guard and Border Patrol, and over time, as a need for FEMA resources arose, those requests received the secretary’s approval.
“It is laughable that a career public employee, who claims to serve the American people, would choose to resign over our refusal to hastily approve a six-figure deployment contract without basic financial oversight,” another DHS spokesman said in a statement about Pagurek’s resignation. “We’re being responsible with taxpayer dollars, that’s our job.”
Some FEMA officials have balked at sweeping changes to FEMA under the Trump administration, more than a dozen agency sources have told CNN, which they believe have stripped the agency of its autonomy and undermined its ability to respond to disasters quickly and efficiently.
Pagurek joins dozens of high-ranking officials to leave FEMA since Trump took office, as the agency undergoes a major overhaul and faces plummeting morale and a brain drain from the departure of longtime leaders.
Established by Congress in the early 1990s, FEMA’s urban search and rescue system, or US&R, includes a network of 28 highly trained state-managed teams stationed across the country, ready to rapidly deploy to a wide range of disasters – from collapsed buildings to catastrophic storms.
Annual congressional funding ensures these task forces are equipped for the nation’s worst emergencies and paid when FEMA deploys them – though local fire departments and emergency management offices house and staff the crews and maintain their readiness.
As CNN first reported, FEMA leaders were unable to quickly mobilize some critical resources, including these elite teams, in the crucial first hours of the Texas floods. The holdup stemmed from a new rule imposed by Noem, who continues to require her personal approval for every contract and grant over $100,000 before funds can be released – a threshold that FEMA officials called “pennies” during a disaster response.
Some FEMA teams, which are involved in large area searches, water rescues and finding human remains, didn’t arrive in Texas and begin field work until a week after the flood.
President Donald Trump has brushed off questions about Noem’s leadership during the floods, praising the federal response in Texas, and defended the plan to reduce FEMA’s footprint and shift more responsibility for disasters to the states.
Texas, which has one of the most robust emergency management systems in the country, managed the disaster largely on its own, deploying more than 2,100 people across 20 state agencies, Gov. Greg Abbott’s office said.
While Pagurek privately expressed frustration with recent changes at FEMA, his resignation letter expressed confidence “in the ongoing strength, capability, and leadership of the Branch.”
Pagurek also reflected on the many disasters he responded to during his time at FEMA.
“The bonds formed in the heat of disaster are unlike any other. I will always hold close the camaraderie, shared purpose, and deep sense of family that define the US&R System,” he wrote.
In 2021, CNN interviewed Pagurek at the scene of the Surfside condominium collapse near Miami, his exhaustion and emotion evident after hours spent leading search and rescue teams through the wreckage.
“Our job is to do the best that we can as quickly as possible,” he said at the time. “I love helping people. I love serving others.”
FEMA is now rolling out a new internal review process aimed at speeding up the approval of “lifesaving” resources during disasters, according to multiple internal memos obtained by CNN.
In recent days, FEMA has established the Disaster Funding Adjudication Task Force to process and track more urgent contracts and mission assignment requests during emergencies, the memos show.
“Disaster-specific means related to a specific (Presidential Major Disaster Declaration) and requires approval immediately or within hours to prevent delays in the delivery of financial or life-sustaining assistance,” one memo states.
Multiple agency officials told CNN the task force was already in development before the Texas floods, as FEMA works to fulfill its rapid response mission while complying with Noem’s new rules.
However, the task force will still ultimately route those requests through acting FEMA administrator David Richardson – installed by Noem after she fired his predecessor in May – and then to Noem for her personal approval, the memos state, raising questions about whether the updated process will truly speed up disaster funding.
“DHS keeps talking about reducing hurdles but at every turn they’ve made it more difficult for the agency and the people left here to do our job,” a longtime FEMA official told CNN. “It’s just a shotgun approach to guidance that we are constantly reacting to, and then trying to build internal process on the fly, to make sure we can answer the bell when it’s rung.”
The DHS spokesman questioned whether the memos are “actionable policy.”
“Any bureaucrat with fingers to type and two brain cells to rub together can draft an internal memo suggesting changes to niche bureaucratic process,” the spokesman wrote.
This story has been updated with additional details.
