WASHINGTON (AP) Two seasoned state emergency managers have emerged as the Obama administration’s leading candidates to head the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Florida’s emergency manager Craig Fugate and former Iowa emergency manager Ellen Gordon are the administration’s top two choices, according to two administration officials familiar with White House deliberations on the appointment. Both officials asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the situation.
The announcement is expected within days, one official said.
FEMA has been under public scrutiny since the Bush administration’s botched response to 2005’s Hurricane Katrina turned the FEMA director into a punchline for late-night television comedians.
After Michael Brown was fired by President George W. Bush, Fugate and Gordon were among the names under consideration to replace him.
At the time, Fugate indicated he was happy in his Florida job. Gordon confirmed that she had been approached about the job and said she wasn’t interested because she was not convinced the Bush administration would make FEMA a priority.
Full Article Obama narrows choices for FEMA director
Tags: federal emergency management agency, FEMA director, Obama
For decades, the Housing and Urban Development Department has been, at best, a second-string player in the Cabinet. But widespread economic chaos, fueled by an unprecedented number of mortgage foreclosures in 2008, has catapulted housing to the top of the national policy agenda and thrust HUD into the spotlight in the incoming administration.