It’s Money That Matters

 This is a big deal:

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.

But this is the headline:

“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.”

"Hey! We didn’t want to waste money!”

Because DHS was already $1 billion over budget and the OBBB hadn’t kicked in yet so, search and rescue in Texas would just have to wait! Arresting people in Home Depot parking lots and at courthouses is expensive! And paying for detention at Alligator Alcatraz is much more important than disaster search and rescue!

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.

Unless the Administration decides they can use those funds for whatever the hell they want. Thanks, Roberts Court; this one’s on you, too.