After stating that the agency shouldn’t be dismantled, the head of FEMA was fired.
As acting administrator of the troubled disaster response agency, which Trump has proposed eliminating, the administration took over from Cameron Hamilton.
Acting Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Cameron Hamilton testifies on Capitol Hill Wednesday. (For The Washington Post/Tom Brenner)
By Brady Dennis and Jake Spring
According to an internal email examined by The Washington Post, the Trump administration dismissed Cameron Hamilton as the acting director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Thursday.
President Donald Trump and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi L. Noem have both publicly stated their wish to abolish the agency, but Hamilton told Congress on Wednesday that he does not think this should happen. Since January, Hamilton, a former Navy SEAL with experience at the State Department and DHS, has been in charge of the troubled department.
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Although a DHS representative, who is in charge of FEMA, did not confirm Hamilton’s dismissal, they did say in a statement that David Richardson would take over as administrator. Richardson, a veteran of the Marines, has been leading the DHS office that aims to reduce WMDs since January.
During Hamilton’s Wednesday appearance before the House Appropriations Committee to address FEMA’s budget, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Connecticut) questioned him directly on whether he agreed with Trump and Noem’s recommendations to abolish FEMA.
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Hamilton to the committee, “I do not think that abolishing the Federal Emergency Management Agency is in the best interests of the American people.”
“Having stated that, I am not in a position to influence results or make decisions regarding the necessity of making a decision as important as that.”
Trump has “been very clear from the beginning that he believes that FEMA and its reaction in many, many scenarios has failed the American people — and that FEMA as it exists now should be terminated,” Noem told Congress on Tuesday.
Politico and the Wall Street Journal have already reported on Hamilton’s dismissal. The administration’s action comes just weeks before the Atlantic hurricane season officially begins on June 1.
Shortly after his return to the White House, Trump recommended that FEMA “go away” and that states should take up its duties after criticizing the agency’s response to Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina last year.
State authorities in many parts of the country were concerned that they would not have enough support going into hurricane and fire season after the administration canceled plans to distribute funding to help prepare for disasters and fired hundreds of FEMA staff in February.
According to those involved with the talks, Trump officials have been aiming to deprive FEMA of its disaster recovery responsibilities by October 1.
Hamilton stated that he was not against change, even though he was obviously in favor of the agency’s objective.
He stated during the hearing on Wednesday that FEMA must resume its fundamental function, assisting states only when disasters are actually beyond their capacity, streamlining recovery procedures, and protecting taxpayer funds through sensible reforms.
However, he said, any modifications shouldn’t impair FEMA’s capacity to assist victims of disasters during their most dire circumstances.
“My main worry with this organization is that significant reform needs to happen,” he stated, “because we need to make it better, more efficient, and more solvent and make sure that we offer survivors the help they need in a timely way.” That is my only concern, and I want you to know that.
Hamilton did a commendable job, according to Pete Gaynor, the administrator of FEMA under the first Trump administration.
“I believe he received good feedback from the staff there. Under extremely difficult circumstances, he attempted to do the best job he could,” Gaynor said. “Those that worked with him on a daily basis are telling me that he was very nice, very sympathetic, and very serious about his duty.”
Hamilton, who, in contrast to many previous administrators, lacked experience as an emergency manager, was charged with leading an organization that was experiencing personnel reductions while catastrophic natural disasters continued to strike the country. The FEMA administrator must work to implement the president’s reform goal while also reacting to hurricanes, wildfires, and other disasters, Gaynor stated, even in the best of circumstances.
“You must do both,” he stated. “It is not a simple task.”
While his supervisors publicly discussed eliminating FEMA, Hamilton had to deal with the task of aiding victims of natural disasters like the wildfires in Los Angeles and the continued response to Hurricane Helene.
According to Gaynor, the agency has also had to deal with the departure of a large number of employees in recent months, including several senior officials who are located across the nation.
He claimed that “the agency is losing very essential people.
The loss of FEMA’s top executive just weeks before the Atlantic hurricane season begins is concerning, according to Sarah Labowitz, a senior scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Labowitz stated, “FEMA needs reform, of course, but we also need a vision for what reform looks like.” “This is only the beginning,” she said, referring to the one draft measure that House lawmakers presented this week in an attempt to spark that conversation.
To truly prepare for the hurricane season that is approaching us, the administration and Congress should be collaborating with state and local authorities,” she stated.
