"The White House plans to withdraw President Trump's nomination of Jeffrey Byard to run the Federal Emergency Management Agency amid reports he was involved in a barroom brawl, according to news accounts.

Byard, who runs the FEMA department that leads disaster response, was awaiting confirmation by the Senate and had been approved by a Senate committee in June. Trump nominated Byard to replace Brock Long, who left FEMA earlier this year.

Trump is expected to nominate acting FEMA Administrator Peter Gaynor to run the agency, according to Axios. Gaynor ran the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency from 2015 to 2018 under Gov. Gina Raimondo, a Democrat, and previously ran the Providence, R.I., emergency management agency under former Mayor David Cicilline, a Democrat who is now in Congress."

Thomas Frank reports for Greenwire September 19, 2019. [2]OK [3]