The acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been fired one day after he broke with fellow members of the administration when he told lawmakers he does not support dismantling the agency, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson confirmed to CNN.
Cameron Hamilton, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, was escorted out of FEMA’s headquarters on Thursday, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation.
“It’s at the discretion of (Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem) to have the personnel she prefers,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told CNN, confirming that DHS official David Richardson will take over for Hamilton effective immediately. McLaughlin declined to explain why Hamilton was removed from the post.
The move comes one day after Hamilton defended FEMA during testimony in front of the House Appropriations Committee.
“As the senior advisor to the President on disasters and emergency management, and to the Secretary of Homeland Security, I do not believe it is in the best interest the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” Hamilton told the committee Wednesday. “Having said that, I am not in a position to make decisions and impact outcomes on whether or not a determination as consequential as that should be made. That is a conversation that should be had between the President of the United States and this governing body.”
For months, both Trump and Noem, whose Department of Homeland Security oversees FEMA, have called for the agency to be “eliminated.” On Tuesday, Noem reaffirmed that stance when she took questions from the same House committee.
“President Trump has been very clear since the beginning that he believes that FEMA and its response in many, many circumstances has failed the American people, and that FEMA, as it exists today, should be eliminated in empowering states to respond to disasters with federal government support.” Noem told the committee.
Hamilton struck a starkly different tone in his testimony. He repeatedly praised FEMA’s staff – calling them “one of the greatest workforces in the entire federal government” – stressing that his goal is to cut bureaucratic red tape and refocus the agency and its budget on its core mission of delivering assistance to survivors after only the most devastating natural disasters, shifting responsibility for smaller disasters onto the states.
“The (FEMA) workforce is tremendous and amazing, and they do a lot of great work, but there’s also systems and processes that are completely antiquated and have to be improved.” Hamilton said. “FEMA is all too often used by states and public officials as a financial backstop for routine issues that frankly should be handled locally. This misalignment has fostered a culture of dependency, waste, inefficiency, while also delaying crucial aid to Americans who are in genuine need.”
Trump and Noem have repeatedly criticized FEMA as partisan, inefficient, and unnecessary. The administration has claimed FEMA uses “woke” ideologies to appropriate funds.
As CNN previously reported, the Trump administration is considering raising the threshold to qualify for federal disaster assistance, which could drastically reduce the number of major disaster declarations that the president approves. Top officials from DHS have also discussed dismantling FEMA in the months ahead.
But Hamilton told lawmakers the reforms underway at FEMA should be done slowly and carefully.
“This will not be a radical transition in an instant,” Hamilton said. “This has to occur in a phased approach, where we mentor states and locals on building capacity and capability.”
CNN previously reported that Hamilton was given a lie detector test just days after taking part in a meeting with top DHS officials for a policy discussion on the future of FEMA and how to potentially dismantle the agency. That closed-door meeting was reported by CNN and other media outlets. At least a dozen other FEMA officials have also been polygraphed by DHS in recent weeks, primarily for alleged media leaks.
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