FEMA Confirms Acting Administrator Hamilton Has Been Replaced

In his testimony before a House committee, Hamilton opposes the removal of FEMA, and appears to contradict the views of President Trump and Secretary Noem.

Cameron Hamilton, representative manager of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), was terminated and replaced, the agency said May 8th.

Politico first reported that Hamilton was let go on Thursday. He testified to the House Budget Subcommittee, reporting that Homeland Security Secretary Christie Noem appears to contradict his stance on removing the agency.

In response to an investigation by the Epoch Times, a FEMA spokesman confirmed that Hamilton was no longer the head of the agency and was later replaced by David Richardson.

Richardson is the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Countermeasures Weapons of Mass Destruction.

In January, President Donald Trump said, “I think I would recommend FEMA leave.”

Noem told Congress during the May 6 hearing that the president believes the agency has failed its mission.

“He believes that FEMA and its response in many situations have failed the American people and that FEMA that exists today should be eliminated,” Noem said.

At a cabinet meeting in March, the Secretary of Homeland Security said the Trump administration was planning to “eliminate FEMA.”

Hamilton appeared to contradict the message regarding Noem and the president’s agency during his testimony on Wednesday.

“I don’t think it’s in the best interests of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” Hamilton said.

However, he extended it to FEMA, reflecting the demands of improving the president’s efficiency and limiting bureaucracy in all federal agencies.

“FEMA was established to provide support focused on truly catastrophic disasters, but sometimes wandering far from its core mission, evolving into an overly extended federal bureaucracy that seeks to manage all sorts of emergencies.

“This inconsistency has encouraged a culture of dependency, waste, and (and) inefficiency, and has also delayed critical aid to Americans with genuine needs. Deficits, bureaucratic inertia and top-down micromanagement have transformed this disaster recovery into a slow, costly, frustrating process.

“The reason for this was that I was hired with a focus on this organization to better serve the American people under President Trump’s mission.”

Hamilton said he is pursuing the President and Noem in his claims to return to federalism within FEMA’s authority in disaster relief.