The decision was likely in part due to the agency's delayed response to the flooding disaster in Central Texas. Senior FEMA leader Ken Pagurek told colleagues this was the last straw after months of frustration over President Donald Trump's repeated efforts to eliminate the agency, CNN reported.

The acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is pushing back on criticisms of the federal response to the central Texas floods that killed at least 136 people

Pagurek told colleagues he was frustrated by the Department of Homeland Security's efforts to dismantle FEMA and by new hurdles that slowed the agency's response to the catastrophic flooding in Central Texas earlier this month,