Cameron Hamilton, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead FEMA, faced questions from senators as he sought to run an agency roiled by threats to dismantle it. Hamilton previously defended FEMA and was fired after doing so, and his nomination now arrives amid
WASHINGTON — Cameron Hamilton has spent the last year moving through the fog around FEMA’s future. On Wednesday, he walked into a Senate hearing with a job offer still on the table — and a past that won’t let him hide.
Senators grilled the nominee as he tried to convince them he can lead an agency that the administration has repeatedly threatened to shrink or dismantle. Hamilton. President Donald Trump’s pick to run the Federal Emergency Management Agency. is stepping into an operation already strained by staff departures. shifting DHS leadership. and disruptions tied to a DHS shutdown.
Hamilton led FEMA briefly last year and was fired after defending its existence. The sequence is central to why senators are pressing him now.
Hamilton was named temporary head in January 2025, just days before Trump floated the idea of “getting rid” of FEMA. Hamilton had never served as a state or local emergency management director, and he had publicly criticized FEMA in the past.
Once on the job, he said he was concerned about threats to abolish the agency. At a House hearing last year, he told lawmakers he did not “believe it is in the best interest of the American people to eliminate” FEMA. He was fired the next day.
If confirmed, Hamilton would become FEMA’s first permanent administrator in Trump’s second term and serve as the principal adviser to Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on emergency management. FEMA sits within the Department of Homeland Security.
The nomination arrives as FEMA remains unsettled. The agency has cycled through four temporary leaders, including Hamilton’s run from January to May in 2025. At the same time, FEMA’s workforce has been worn down by mass staff departures, and it has operated under policies that hamstrung operations.
Hamilton would also be taking over an agency reeling from Kristi Noem’s turbulent leadership at DHS. and from a protracted DHS shutdown that has further complicated federal response readiness. For senators. the immediate question is whether a nominee with a bruising history inside the building can keep FEMA steady when disaster season hits.
There is also the political clock. Hamilton will need to ensure FEMA is prepared for summer disaster season, while answering to Trump, who is likely to expect major changes after a council he appointed recommended sweeping moves at the agency.
At the hearing Wednesday, another Trump nominee being considered is David Cummins for the Transportation Security Administration.
For Hamilton, Wednesday’s questions carry the weight of more than a nomination. FEMA has been the focus of threats that have shifted from talk to action, leadership to leadership, and confidence to doubt — and this time, senators want to know which direction it will turn next.
Cameron Hamilton FEMA senators Markwayne Mullin Kristi Noem Department of Homeland Security disaster relief emergency management David Cummins Transportation Security Administration