A high-ranking official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been put on leave after past remarks resurfaced and drew controversy, according to ABC News. Greg Phillips is reportedly stepping away from his role over comments that included a claim that he once teleported to a Waffle House restaurant and an unfounded assertion about voter fraud in the 2016 election.
FEMA has confirmed Phillips' departure. In a statement, the agency said he had played a pivotal role in stabilizing its office of recovery and response, while also acknowledging that he was leaving his post amid the scrutiny over his public statements.
The teleportation claim is among the remarks that fueled the controversy. Phillips described what he called a frightening experience, recounting that he had told his children he was going to a Waffle House and somehow ended up at a Waffle House about 50 miles from where he had been, an account he framed as a sudden and disorienting episode.
Phillips also claimed, without evidence, that millions of people had voted illegally in the 2016 election. In a social media post at the time, he wrote that the number of non-citizen votes exceeded 3 million, an assertion that has been repeatedly rejected by election officials and researchers.
According to the reporting, those comments were made before the Trump administration brought him into the agency. Phillips was asked to lead FEMA's disaster response efforts last December, a role that placed him at the center of the federal government's work coordinating relief operations.
His exit follows reported friction within the wider department. Phillips is said to have clashed with other leaders at the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA, and he was ultimately asked to step away because of concerns about how he was being publicly perceived.
The departure adds to a period of turbulence at the agency, which manages the federal response to hurricanes, wildfires, floods and other disasters. The episode underscores how scrutiny of officials' past public statements can shape leadership at agencies tasked with high-stakes emergency work.