It deteriorated further once she took over at Homeland Security in December, this official said. Tension between Nielsen and Long dates back to summer 2017, when Nielsen was chief of staff to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, said an administration official who has observed their interactions. He would not discuss the investigation except to say that “what’s being put out there, it’s far from the reality.” He has repeatedly denied doing anything improper. Long said he has not seen the inspector general’s findings nor retained an attorney. “We both understand what needs to be done,” he said of himself and Nielsen, “and we will continue to work together.” Long spoke briefly with the Washington Post on Wednesday as he was driven in an SUV to a helicopter waiting to take him to greet President Trump, who had arrived with Nielsen in North Carolina to assess the federal response. Long called his relationship with Nielsen “professional and functional.” But behind the scenes, he and other FEMA officials have told colleagues they think she has her mind set on ousting him. But the discord has sparked worry and some level of panic within FEMA and Homeland Security as they prepare for what is forecast to be a hectic hurricane season, and as FEMA seeks to rehabilitate its image amid renewed criticism of its handling of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico last year. State and local officials in North Carolina have praised the Federal Emergency Management Agency for its response to the storm. The political upheaval surrounding Long now threatens to undercut the nation’s top disaster official at the moment he’s needed most, his allies say. A senior administration official confirmed the account. “It was FEMA personnel who convinced him not to quit,” said one congressional aide briefed on the matter. He felt devastated and betrayed, according to the three government officials, who had knowledge of Long’s reaction. Let’s just get through the storm, she said.Ībout 24 hours later, as Long’s plane landed in North Carolina, he learned that the Homeland Security Office of Inspector General had referred his case to federal prosecutors for a possible criminal investigation. Nothing would happen to Long in the near term, Nielsen assured him, according to three senior government officials familiar with the conversation. The two agreed to a truce so that the Trump administration’s response to Hurricane Florence would not be further overshadowed by the deepening acrimony between them since the disclosure of an internal investigation into Long’s use of government vehicles to travel between Washington and his home in North Carolina. On Sunday, his bitter feud with Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen seemed as though it would abate. With his home state flooded and the death toll rising, FEMA Administrator William “Brock” Long was on the verge of quitting this week.