The acting head of FEMA was dismissed one day after he spoke out in support of the vital disaster services the agency offers to Americans.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s acting administrator was terminated just a day after disagreeing with the administration’s plan to dismantle the agency during a meeting with lawmakers, a spokesperson from the Department of Homeland Security told news media.
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 news media, 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 decision was made the day after Hamilton stood up for FEMA during his testimony before 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.”
Conflicting perspective
Both Trump and Noem have been advocating for months to eliminate FEMA, with Noem reaffirming their stance during questioning from the House committee on Tuesday. Trump and Noem oversee FEMA through the Department of Homeland Security.
“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’s testimony had a noticeably different demeanor. He commended FEMA’s staff multiple times, describing them as “one of the best workforces in the entire federal government.” He emphasized his desire to reduce bureaucratic obstacles and realign the agency’s focus and finances towards its main objective of aiding survivors in the aftermath of major natural disasters, while delegating smaller disaster response responsibilities to the states.
Hamilton stated that while the workforce at FEMA is fantastic and impressive, there are outdated systems and processes that are in need of improvement. He added that FEMA is sometimes relied upon by states and public officials to address everyday issues that could be dealt with locally. This mismatch has led to a culture of dependency, inefficiency, and wastage, ultimately delaying essential assistance to those in real need.
Trump and Noem have criticized FEMA multiple times for being partisan, inefficient, and deemed unnecessary. The administration has accused FEMA of using “woke” ideologies to allocate 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.”
Sources had reported that Hamilton underwent a lie detector test shortly after attending a meeting with senior DHS officials to discuss FEMA’s future and the possibility of dismantling the agency. The closed-door meeting was covered by several news outlets. In the past few weeks, at least twelve other FEMA officials have also been subjected to polygraph tests by DHS, mostly in relation to suspected media leaks.
Who is new acting FEMA head David Richardson?
Mr. David Richardson brings a no experience to his role as the FEMA Official performing the duties of the Administrator. This individual has no emergency management experience in the state or federal level. It is a requirement for the FEMA Administrator or those performing the duties of the administrator to have supervisory emergency manager experience at either the state or federal level. Yet Richardson was hand-selected by Noem and Trump to lead FEMA in it’s reduction-in-workforce phase, leaving providing disaster response and recovery services last on the priority list.
Richardson’s lays down “the Law”
Richardson addressed all FEMA employees during an “All-Hands” meeting over Zoom. Mr. Richardson held this meeting at FEMA HQ in Washington, D.C. During this meeting, Richardson laid down “the Law”, how Richardson plans to fulfill the Trump’s Administration’s intent to ‘eliminate FEMA’. Richardson stated that he will be the only person, the only authority “to interpret President Trump’s executive orders” and mandate all DHS employees, specifically FEMA staff, to abide by them or risk losing their jobs.
Additionally, Richardson stated that he will be suspending unnecessary assistance to already-stricken regions that currently have disasters declared for their states. Sources tell us that Richardson, upon enacting a revocation of delegation of authority away from Federal Coordinating Officers and Chief of Staffs, suspending all deployments and extensions for current deployments to regions 4, 8, 9, and 10. For awareness, Hurricanes Helene and Milton decimated 5 states within Region 4 in October of 2024. That means disaster survivors will have their assistance stopped since there will be a suspension in personnel that provide those services to communities.
It was an embarrassment for all of the FEMA personnel who had to attend the speech in person. Richardson’s forced and rushed 13-minute speech was nothing more than him swinging his balls around exerting his authority and totalitarianism.
Listen to today’s recorded meeting by Richardson:
Lee Ho