The acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is no longer with the agency – just a day after telling lawmakers that cutting FEMA, as President Donald Trump has proposed, is a bad move.
Cameron Hamilton, who previously served as a hospital corpsman in the U.S. Navy with SEAL Team 8, has led FEMA since January.
“Effective today, David Richardson is now serving as the Senior Official Performing the duties of the FEMA Administrator,” a FEMA spokesperson said in a Thursday email to Fox News Digital. “Cameron Hamilton is no longer serving in this capacity.”
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Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Troy Edgar and Trump advisor Corey Lewandowski requested Hamilton appear at Homeland Security headquarters Thursday morning and informed him of his ouster, Politico reported.
While Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have voiced support for eradicating FEMA, Hamilton cautioned Wednesday against eliminating the agency.
“I do not believe it is in the best interest of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” Hamilton told lawmakers on the House Committee on Appropriations.
Days after his inauguration in January, Trump visited North Carolina to oversee the state’s efforts to recover from Hurricane Helene, more than 120 days after the storm struck the state. On the trip, Trump floated plans to gut FEMA, which oversaw the disaster relief efforts.
“I’ll also be signing an executive order to begin the process of fundamentally reforming and overhauling FEMA, or maybe getting rid of FEMA,” Trump told reporters in North Carolina. “I think, frankly, FEMA is not good.”
