Report: Kevin Guthrie to lead FEMA

TALLAHASSEE, FLA. 1/4/23-Kevin Guthrie, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management speaks during the Senate Select Committee on Resiliency, Wednesday at the Capitol in Tallahassee. COLIN HACKLEY PHOTO

Florida’s model for emergency management may be the model for the United States, if a reported candidate to helm the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) lands the job.

POLITICO reports that Florida Division of Emergency Management (DEM) Director Kevin Guthrie is the top candidate under consideration by President-elect Donald Trump to lead FEMA, which could prompt a radical shift in how America addresses hurricanes, wildfires and other phenomena.

Team Trump has stopped short of an official confirmation of Guthrie’s consideration, per POLITICO, which notes that Guthrie has not talked to the President-elect yet.

Guthrie has spent much of his career in DEM, becoming Chief of Staff under former Gov. Rick Scott after having guided a major city and a more rural county in similar functions. The first day for Guthrie on the job was the day Hurricane Michael made landfall in North Florida, devastating the Panhandle and Big Bend region.

DeSantis tapped him to be Deputy Director in 2019 under current U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz. DeSantis then elevated Guthrie, the former Emergency Preparedness Coordinator with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and Flagler County Public Safety and Emergency Management Director, to the top job in 2021.

By 2022, he more than earned DeSantis’ emphatic endorsement for retention.

“From the tragic condo collapse in Surfside to the destructive Hurricane Ian, Kevin Guthrie has led emergency response efforts with leadership and skill,” DeSantis tweeted. “It is my pleasure to announce that he will be returning as the Director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management in our second term!”

Guthrie was also key to the administration’s efforts in mass vaccinations against COVID, with the state’s “Seniors First” approach to inoculation at the center of the public health strategy.

If he is the selection, the DEM Director would be the latest Florida name in a prominent role in the Trump administration. Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio, Attorney General nominee Pam Bondi, and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz constitute just a few of the prominent Sunshine State Republicans bringing their talents to the national stage.

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Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics contributed to this report.