The head of FEMA’s Urban Search and Rescue branch, Ken Pagurek, resigned on Monday, multiple sources confirmed to ABC News.
Pagurek told colleagues he was frustrated by the Department of Homeland Security’s efforts to dismantle FEMA and by new hurdles that slowed the agency’s response to the catastrophic flooding in Central Texas earlier this month, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Sources said he pointed to a new DHS policy requiring all spending over $100,000 to be personally approved by Secretary Kristi Noem as a key factor behind the delays and, ultimately, his decision to step down.
MORE: Number of missing in Texas floods drops from nearly 100 to 3 in hard-hit county
The news was first reported by CNN.
Pagurek had worked with FEMA’s search and rescue operations for more than a decade and had served as its chief for the past year. He was previously a Philadelphia firefighter and the head of FEMA’s Pennsylvania Task Force 1 search and rescue operation, and has responded to disasters including the Maui wildfires and the Surfside building collapse.
Pagurek did not respond to a request for comment by ABC News.
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told ABC News, “The attempt to spin a personal career decision into some big scandal is RIDICULOUS. 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.”
“We’re being responsible with taxpayer dollars, that’s our job,” McLaughlin said. “FEMA experienced no delays in deployment of assets, and Texas officials have unequivocally and vocally applauded the federal government and FEMA’s response. If anyone is upset by the end of unchecked, blank-check spending under President Trump’s administration, that says more about them than it does about us.”
ABC News’ Brian Hartman contributed to this report.
