Cameron Hamilton was summoned to the Department of Homeland Security headquarters in Washington, D.C., where he was terminated by Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Troy Edgar and Corey Lewandowski, a senior adviser to President Donald Trump, as reported by Politico, citing a source with direct knowledge of the situation.
This dismissal occurred just one day after Hamilton provided testimony before a House Appropriations subcommittee, during which he seemed to contradict recent remarks made by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem about the potential dissolution of FEMA and reallocating its funding to state-level emergency management, a proposal that Trump has been openly contemplating.
“I do not believe it is in the best interests of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” Hamilton stated during the hearing on Wednesday.
FEMA’s press office confirmed Hamilton’s termination.
“Effective today, David Richardson is now serving as the Senior Official Performing the duties of the FEMA Administrator,” a spokesperson stated 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.”
Hamilton, a former Navy SEAL, had considered resigning approximately two months ago as the new Trump administration was forming, until FEMA staff encouraged him to stay, according to Politico, which quoted an anonymous source.
Shortly after taking office, Trump’s DHS dismissed four FEMA officials due to an “egregious” payment made to illegal immigrants.
DHS officials informed Fox News that “four employees are being terminated today for bypassing leadership and independently authorizing the inappropriate payment for accommodations for migrants in New York City.”
The dismissals follow Elon Musk’s statement on X, where he noted that “The DOGE team uncovered that the agency transferred “$59M LAST WEEK to upscale hotels in New York City to accommodate illegal migrants.”
“These funds are intended for American disaster relief, yet they are being allocated to luxury hotels for undocumented individuals. A demand for reimbursement will be issued today to recover those funds,” Musk shared on X.
This revelation emerged weeks after Trump unveiled his intentions to reform FEMA during a visit to North Carolina, where many residents are still recovering from Hurricane Helene, which impacted the state last autumn.
“I will also be signing an executive order to initiate the process of fundamentally reforming and overhauling FEMA, or possibly eliminating FEMA altogether,” Trump stated to reporters on Friday morning during his visit. “I believe, quite frankly, that FEMA is ineffective.”
Trump further committed that his administration would offer support to North Carolina to expedite the repair of the damage, assuring the state that he would “execute the recovery efforts effectively.”
“We are going to rectify this situation, and we will do so as quickly as possible,” Trump asserted. “The extent of the damage is substantial. FEMA has truly disappointed us. It has let the country down. I am uncertain if this is Biden’s fault or someone else’s, but we are going to take charge. We will perform well.”
Trump also conveyed his wish for states to assume greater responsibility during disasters, contending that local officials are more capable of responding to and managing relief operations. He vowed to work alongside three lawmakers from regions affected by Hurricane Helene, criticizing FEMA for being “not proactive” in assisting North Carolina’s recovery following the hurricane.
“Therefore, we will be addressing FEMA, a topic I believe most individuals concur with,” Trump stated. “I would prefer the states to manage disasters, allowing them to handle tornadoes, hurricanes, and various other occurrences. I believe you will discover that it is significantly more cost-effective. You will accomplish it for less than half the expense, and you will receive a much faster response.”
