WASHINGTON (AP) – The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is resigning, months after an investigation found he misused government vehicles to travel to his home in North Carolina, and his deputy, a former head of Rhode Island’s Emergency Management Agency will step in to the top job.
Brock Long said in a letter Wednesday to agency employees that he was resigning to spend more time with his family.
Deputy Administrator Pete Gaynor will become acting head of the agency.
Long was under investigation by the Homeland Security Department’s watchdog, and word of it leaked just as Hurricane Florence struck last fall. Officials found he misused vehicles, but Long was not asked to resign, and he agreed to reimburse the government.
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen says he led the agency admirably for two years through six major hurricanes and five historic wildfires.
Gaynor headed the Providence Emergency Management Agency before being tapped to run the statewide EMA.
