(Photo from Homeland Security hearing)
- The Acting FEMA Administrator was fired this week after appearing before Congress.
Mississippi 2nd District Congressman Bennie Thompson (D) is calling on President Donald Trump (R) to “put politics aside” and nominate someone to the position of FEMA Administrator “with the proper experience and qualifications.”
Thompson’s statement came after it was announced Thursday that Acting Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Cameron Hamilton, had been fired by the Trump Administration. Politico first reported the firing.
The termination of Hamilton followed a day of testifying before Congress where he said he did not believe it to be in the best interest of the American people to eliminate the federal agency, an action President Trump has floated since coming back into office.
“It’s telling that Mr. Hamilton was fired when he told the truth and refused to toe the administration line with its plans to eliminate FEMA,” Congressman Thompson said in a statement released by the Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee. “Clearly this brainless idea – that Trump and [Homeland Security Secretary] Kristi Noem keep touting – is not faring well even in MAGA world.”
Thompson went on to say that with hurricane season starting in only three weeks, “we know that FEMA’s workforce has been decimated by DOGE – and we have no idea how well it is actually preparing for upcoming hurricanes.”
“If a major disaster were to strike, I fear the Trump administration would have little to offer besides more chaos – putting lives at unnecessary risk,” Thompson said.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also appeared before Congress this week, telling lawmakers that President Trump has indicated he wants to eliminate FEMA as it exists today, “and to have states have more control over their emergency management response.”
“He wants to empower local governments and support them and how they respond to their people,” Noem said, saying that FEMA has unpaid claims from as far back as 2005 for Hurricane Katrina as well as other natural disasters across the U.S.
David Richardson is now filing the role as Acting FEMA Administrator. In January, Richardson was appointed as Assistant Secretary at the Department of Homeland Security.
Frank Corder
