In testimony before a House panel, Hamilton opposed eliminating FEMA, apparently contradicting the view of President Trump and Secretary Noem.
Cameron Hamilton, acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), has been terminated and replaced, the agency said on May 8.
Politico first reported that Hamilton had been let go Thursday, one day after he testified to a House Appropriations subcommittee and seemingly contradicted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s stance on eliminating the agency, which provides relief to states and localities hit by natural disasters.
In response to an inquiry by The Epoch Times, a FEMA spokesperson confirmed that Hamilton is no longer serving as head of the agency and has since been replaced by David Richardson.
Richardson is the assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction.
In January, while touring flood damage from Hurricane Helene, President Donald Trump said, “I think we’re going to recommend that FEMA go away.”
Noem told Congress during a May 6 hearing that the president believes the agency has failed in its mission.
“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,” Noem said.
During a Cabinet meeting in March, the Homeland Security secretary said the Trump administration plans to “eliminate FEMA.”
Hamilton seemed to contradict Noem and the president’s messaging on the agency during his testimony on Wednesday.
“I do not believe it is in the best interests of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” Hamilton said.
However, he echoed the president’s calls for improving efficiency and limiting bureaucracy at all federal agencies and extended that to FEMA.
“FEMA was established to provide focused support in truly catastrophic disasters. Yet at times, we have strayed far from that core mission and evolved into an overextended federal bureaucracy attempting to manage every type of emergency, no matter how minor. Instead of being a last resort, FEMA is all too often used by states and public officials as a financial backstop for routine issues that frankly should be handled locally,” Hamilton said in his opening statement.
“This misalignment has fostered a culture of dependency, waste, [and] inefficiency, while also delaying crucial aid to Americans who are in genuine need. Red tape, bureaucratic inertia, and top-down micromanagement have turned this disaster recovery into a slow, costly, and frustrating process.
“It was for this very reason I was hired to refocus this organization in order to better serve the American people under President Trump’s mandate.”
Hamilton said that he would be following the president and Noem in advocating for a return to federalism within FEMA’s authority in administering disaster relief.