administrator
Cameron Hamilton, FEMA’s acting administrator, was summoned to Department of Homeland Security headquarters in Washington, where he was terminated by Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Troy Edgar and Corey Lewandowski, an adviser to President Donald Trump, according to a person with direct knowledge of the events.
Hamilton returned to FEMA headquarters a few miles away, collected his belongings and left. His biography was removed from FEMA’s website and his official X account was archived.
The firing occurred a day after Hamilton testified before a House Appropriations subcommittee, where he seemed to contradict recent comments made by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem about potentially eliminating FEMA.
“I do not believe it is in the best interests of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” Hamilton said at the hearing on Wednesday.
In response to questions, FEMA’s press office confirmed that Hamilton had been fired.
“Effective today, David Richardson is now serving as the Senior Official Performing the duties of the FEMA Administrator,” a spokesperson said in an email, referring to the assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security’s Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office. “Cameron Hamilton is no longer serving in this capacity.”
Neither FEMA nor DHS, which oversees the agency, gave a reason for Hamilton being fired.
Former FEMA chief of staff Michael Coen said Hamilton’s firing “further erodes the confidence that state emergency managers and the American people are going to have in the nation’s emergency management.”
Hamilton, a former Navy SEAL, considered resigning about two months ago, until FEMA staffers convinced him to stay, according to a person who was granted anonymity to discuss personnel issues.
In late March, Hamilton was given a lie-detector test by Homeland Security officials to determine if he leaked information about a private meeting he had with Noem and Lewandowski at DHS headquarters. The test cleared Hamilton.
