FEMA head to reimburse government for use of federal vehicles: report

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) head Brock Long reportedly plans to reimburse the government for the personal use of federal vehicles that he and staffers used to travel from Washington to his home in North Carolina.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen announced Friday that a Homeland Security inspector general investigation found the use of the vehicles was for “non-official reasons” and “inappropriate,” according to a statement first reported by Politico.

{mosads}“[U]se of Government vehicles to provide home to work transportation for the FEMA Administrator was never authorized in accordance with applicable law,” she said.

The FEMA chief said that he took “full responsibility for any mistakes that were made by me or the agency.”

“The Secretary and I are taking corrective action to prevent such mistakes from happening in the future,” he added, according to Politico.

Long has faced public scrutiny after it was reported last week that he and several staffers would take weekend trips to North Carolina using government vehicles and put FEMA staff members up in hotels at taxpayers’ expense. 

Subsequently, Politico reported that Nielsen confronted Long about his travel habits and asked him to consider resigning, which he refused to do. 

The scandal comes amid FEMA’s efforts to aid in the recovery of Tropical Storm Florence, which pummeled the Carolinas and killed more than 40 people.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.