Trump Eyes Florida’s Emergency Management Director To Lead Fema

As wildfires rage in California, President-elect Donald Trump is looking to Florida to run the key agency tasked with responding to disasters — and one that is frequently a target of his ire.

Trump’s team is eyeing Florida Division of Emergency Management Executive Director Kevin Guthrie to lead the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to two people familiar with the president-elect’s transition.

“That’s their leading candidate,” one of the people, granted anonymity to discuss the administration’s plans, told POLITICO. This person added that Trump had not yet interviewed Guthrie.

Guthrie, who would be the latest in a long line of Floridians tapped for major administration jobs, did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Guthrie’s pick isn’t official, and a Trump transition spokesperson said they “don’t speculate or get ahead of President Trump on personnel or policy announcements."

The position is a crucial one: In addition to the fires in Los Angeles County, which will consume tens of billions of dollars in federal disaster aid, western North Carolina is still recovering from Hurricane Helene — the devastating storm that struck during the fall and claimed more than 200 lives. FEMA is also a second-tier agency housed within the Department of Homeland Security that presidents rarely stock this early.

Trump’s incoming FEMA director will have their hands full. Trump has for years interfered with the agency, most recently on Wednesday, when he suggested in a Truth Social post that President Joe Biden is leaving him “NO MONEY IN FEMA,” though $27 billion still remains in the disaster relief fund — an amount that could be eclipsed by California’s need. But there was also the time in 2019 when he suggested at a FEMA briefing that Hurricane Dorian was likely to hit Alabama, redrawing its path with a Sharpie.

Last October, he criticized FEMA recovery efforts in western North Carolina and wrongly suggested the agency spent all of its money on illegal immigrants. Trump’s comments led to threats against federal disaster workers, and briefly paused their door-to-door visits over safety concerns.

“There’s no doubt that whoever the next FEMA administrator is going to be is going to have their hands full, not just from these current fires in California, but from the — I don’t know — 50 other disasters that are probably still open within FEMA from a reimbursement standpoint, and obviously with the damage from the recent Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton,” said Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), who Trump also considered for the role.

In Florida, Guthrie is responsible for leading the state’s response to major disasters and health emergencies, which includes managing logistics for potentially tens of thousands of linemen, first responders and debris removal crews before and after a hurricane hits. The state Division of Emergency Management also manages the state’s participation in FEMA’s Public Assistance grant program, which has provided the state with several billion in federal recovery dollars in just the past couple of years alone.

Guthrie, elevated by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2021, would be the second Florida emergency management official to get tapped for the top job in the past 15 years. Craig Fugate, who worked under former Govs. Jeb Bush and Charlie Crist, also held the job.

Guthrie previously served as the assistant administrator for public safety in Pasco County during the 2017 hurricane season when the region saw heavy flooding from Hurricane Irma and other storms. At the time, he was one of a handful of county leaders who were frustrated by delays in the distribution of the FEMA recovery funding.

Then-Gov. Rick Scott hired Guthrie to serve as chief of staff for DEM in 2019. He was promoted to deputy of the agency by Moskowitz, who at the time was the director of the state department. Guthrie also spent 23 years working for the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

“I’m not worried about FEMA’s ability to respond without a political [appointee], but for any administration, it’s their responsibility to get their political team in place,” Fugate said.

Guthrie, a regular presence alongside DeSantis during disaster-related press conferences, faced criticism in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in 2022 for not ordering coastal evacuations sooner. The storm killed more than 100 people.

“The folks at FEMA are professionals, there’ll be no drop between the Biden administration transitioning out and the interim administrator coming in,” Moskowitz said.

Pete Gaynor, who served in the role during the first Trump administration, said he did not expect Trump’s recent comments about the agency to change its approach to wildfire recovery.

“No matter what you’ve heard, especially pre-election when it came to Helene in North Carolina and some of that nonsense that was spewed about misinformation and FEMA, FEMA is apolitical,” Gaynor said.

Irie Sentner contributed to this report.