The administration’s next step for FEMA is expected to come in the form of a nomination for Cameron Hamilton, who previously led the agency on a temporary basis and was later removed after testifying that he opposed plans to eliminate it.
According to a person familiar with the matter, Trump plans to nominate Hamilton as FEMA’s permanent administrator. The person said Trump offered Hamilton the role Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the decision publicly. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and The New York Times first reported Trump’s intent to nominate Hamilton. MSI previously covered Trump’s eventual nomination of Hamilton.
Hamilton became FEMA’s acting leader for a stretch from January to May last year, before being fired one day after he testified on Capitol Hill. In that hearing, he told members of a House Appropriations subcommittee, “I do not believe it is in the best interest of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” according to the AP report.
The nomination, if it advances, would arrive as FEMA has operated without a permanent administrator throughout Trump’s second term and has relied on temporary leadership multiple times, a situation critics have said can undermine the agency’s effectiveness. The timing also matters because Trump has said he wants to shift more responsibility for disasters to states and has created a FEMA Review Council expected to propose broad changes in how the agency supports disaster-impacted communities.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has expressed support for FEMA while also calling for reforms, setting up a contrast with Mullin’s predecessor, Kristi Noem, who vowed to “eliminate FEMA as it exists today” and whose dealings with the review council became fraught, according to the AP report.
It is unclear, based on the reporting, how Hamilton would lead or what Trump expects from his leadership. Hamilton’s own description of his prior time at FEMA included disputes with officials at the Homeland Security Department, which he characterized as “very hostile” in a September episode of the podcast “Disaster Tough,” where he said he wanted to cut “wasteful spending” and “downsize the agency,” but not dismantle FEMA.
During the confirmation process, Hamilton could also face headwinds in the Senate given that he has not served as a state emergency management director. Federal law requires FEMA’s administrator to have “a demonstrated ability in and knowledge of emergency management and homeland security” and no less than five years of executive leadership and management experience. If confirmed, the administrator would serve as the principal adviser to the president and the Homeland Security secretary on emergency management.
Hamilton spent a decade in the U.S. Navy SEALs, serving on Seal Team Eight for four overseas deployments between 2005 and 2015, according to his LinkedIn profile and a congressional bio cited in the report. He later worked in emergency-management roles for the State Department and served as the Department of Homeland Security’s director of emergency services for several years. He ran for Congress in Virginia’s 7th district in 2024 but lost in the Republican primary.
In a LinkedIn post earlier this month marking 47 years since FEMA’s establishment, Hamilton wrote that he was grateful to have served under Trump and alongside FEMA colleagues, adding, “I wish my tenure had been longer,” and saying there was “still much more work to do for reform.”