Homeland Security secretary says FEMA chief won’t lose job

WASHINGTON — The head of the federal disaster response agency used government vehicles without proper authorization, but will not lose his job over it, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said Friday.

Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator William “Brock” Long had been under investigation by the Homeland Security Department’s watchdog over possibly misusing government vehicles to travel to his home in Hickory, North Carolina. Word leaked of the investigation just as Hurricane Florence was poised to make landfall earlier this month.

Nielsen said in a statement Friday that there had been a longstanding practice to transport FEMA administrators in government vehicles to ensure they could remain connected during a crisis. But despite this practice, use of government vehicles for home-to-work travel was not officially authorized, and that practice was eliminated in April.

Nielsen said the report by Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General also found Long used government vehicles for non-official reasons.

She said they spoke about the problems and Long agreed to reimburse the government, though it wasn’t clear how much money that might be.

She said she directed the department to review policy on home-to-work transportation problems, assess communication requirements at FEMA so officials can be best connected during disasters, and to review of and training regarding proper use of government vehicles.

“We had a productive conversation where we discussed my expectations regarding the agency’s use of government vehicles going forward,” Nielsen said in a statement. “The administrator acknowledged that mistakes were made, and he took personal responsibility.”

The inspector general’s report has not been made public. The House Oversight Committee is also looking into the allegations and has asked Long to turn over to the committee all documents related to the trips by Oct. 1, including whether his staff was put up in hotels paid for by taxpayer dollars.