President Donald Trump plans to nominate Cameron Hamilton, a former U.S. Navy SEAL whom the administration fired as the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s acting leader last year, as FEMA’s permanent administrator, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Hamilton was FEMA’s temporary leader from January to May of last year but was fired one day after testifying on Capitol Hill that he did not agree with proposals to dismantle the organization charged with coordinating the federal government’s response to disasters, an idea Trump had repeatedly floated.
“I do not believe it is in the best interest of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” he told members of a House Appropriations subcommittee.
FEMA has lacked a permanent administrator throughout Trump’s second term and is currently on its third temporary leader, something critics have said undermines the agency’s effectiveness.
Trump offered Hamilton the job Wednesday, according to the person, who was not authorized to discuss it publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The New York Times first reported Trump’s intent to nominate Hamilton.
