Washington DC - David Richardson, the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), recently played defense for his agency's response to the floods in Texas, but appeared unsure about its future.

On Wednesday, Richardson sat for a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing, during which he stated, "I can't see anything that we did wrong," further adding, "It was a model for how disasters should be handled."

The department has faced heavy criticism over its response to the deadly floods. Reports found that FEMA did not answer nearly two-thirds of calls to its disaster assistance hotline, but Richardson denied the claim, insisting that the "vast majority" of calls were answered.

Other reports found that Richardson was nowhere to be found during the disaster. When pressed by Stanton on his whereabouts, Richardson admitted he was on vacation at the time.

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Representative Greg Stanton of Arizona told Richardson that the response was a mix of "incompetence" and "indifference," and said, "that deadly combination likely cost lives."

The hearing also came as both President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have repeatedly floated the idea of dismantling FEMA completely.

Richardson outlined how his aim under their guidance has been to "encourage increased state and local ownership of disaster activities" with federal support only being provided "when needed."

But when asked by Rep. John Garamendi if the agency "will exist in the future," Richardson refused to directly respond, leading Garamendi to say that "the answer is blowing in the wind."