Cameron Hamilton, the acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, was pushed out of the job on Thursday, according to several people familiar with his departure. His ouster came a day after he told members of Congress that FEMA — which President Trump has suggested should be disbanded — was vital to communities “in their greatest times of need” and should not be eliminated.
The agency, which coordinates the federal response to natural disasters, confirmed in a statement that Mr. Hamilton was no longer serving as acting administrator. Many other senior leaders have been fired or decided to leave as the agency has faced an uncertain future. Mr. Hamilton’s firing was reported earlier by Politico.
On Tuesday, Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary whose agency includes FEMA, testified before lawmakers that FEMA should be eliminated. Mr. Hamilton, appearing before Congress on Wednesday, said instead that FEMA “must return to its roots,” helping state and local governments respond to disasters.
“Communities look to FEMA in their greatest times of need,” Mr. Hamilton told lawmakers, “and it’s imperative that we remain ready to respond to those challenges.”
Mr. Hamilton added, “I do not believe it is in the best interest of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency.” Even so, he said, that was “a conversation that should be had between the president of the United States and this governing body.”
The debate over whether FEMA should survive dates back to the early days of the administration. Mr. Trump visited North Carolina in January, after parts of the state had been devastated by Hurricane Helene, and said that FEMA under President Joseph R. Biden Jr. had failed to do enough to help hurricane survivors.
“I think we’re going to recommend that FEMA go away,” Mr. Trump said.
Mr. Trump’s frustrations with FEMA echoed longstanding concerns among the agency’s own leaders, who felt that it was increasingly being asked to do too much with too few resources. For example, FEMA had been asked to work on the response to the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as assisting with migrants in the first Trump administration.
And the frequency and severity of hurricanes, wildfires and other calamities has increased as human-caused climate change causes average temperatures to rise.
There were just three billion-dollar disasters in the United States in 1980, but that total increased to 27 last year, according to data collected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA. (The Trump administration has since directed NOAA to stop updating that database.)
Mr. Trump was the first president to push for the agency’s dismantling, generating alarm with FEMA and also among the state emergency management officials who rely on it. But the administration’s desire to actually disband the agency has been unclear.
State officials from around the country, including Republicans, have urged the White House not to dismantle the agency.
State emergency managers, who would bear the greatest burden if FEMA were to disappear, have also called for the agency to survive. “FEMA must maintain the work force, resources, and authorities necessary to achieve the agency’s mission,” the National Emergency Management Association, which represents state emergency managers, wrote in an open letter last month.
There have been indications that the White House is listening to those concerns. Last week, Mr. Trump named the members of a council that is meant to advise on the future of FEMA. That council includes emergency management professionals and officials from disaster-prone cities and states — a decision that some saw as a signal that FEMA is unlikely to be disbanded.
Ms. Noem, however, did not appear to be among those rooting for FEMA to survive. During Tuesday’s hearing, she told lawmakers that “FEMA as it exists today should be eliminated.”
It was not the first time that Ms. Noem and Mr. Hamilton were on different sides of an issue. Early in the administration, Ms. Noem directed FEMA to freeze its grant funding, to avoid sending money to groups or states that were viewed as helping undocumented migrants. Under Mr. Hamilton, FEMA struggled to find a way to meet those restrictions, while also abiding by the agency’s legal obligations.
FEMA said on Thursday that Mr. Hamilton had been replaced as acting administrator by David Richardson, the assistant secretary at the Homeland Security Department’s office for countering weapons of mass destruction. (In a statement, Representative Bennie G. Thompson, the top Democrat on the House Committee on Homeland Security, called for President Trump to nominate a permanent administrator “with the proper experience and qualifications.”)
Mr. Richardson will face a difficult job. As of Thursday morning, FEMA had available about half as many staff members trained to respond to disasters as it did at this point last year, according to agency documents. That follows months of downsizing at FEMA, with many workers accepting early resignation offers or being terminated.
Atlantic hurricane season starts in three weeks.
Michael Gold contributed reporting.
