Senate Confirms Cameron Hamilton as FEMA Administrator
The U.S. Senate has confirmed Cameron Hamilton as the new FEMA administrator, a move that brings a former critic of the agency's potential elimination back to its helm during a period of high disaster activity.
What Happened
The U.S. Senate confirmed Cameron Hamilton as head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on Friday, August 7, 026, according to AP News. The confirmation came as part of a broader batch of 74 nominations approved by the Senate that same day.
Hamilton is a former Navy SEAL who previously led FEMA temporarily in January 2025 before being fired after publicly opposing eliminating the agency. The confirmation marks Hamilton's return to lead the embattled agency he had criticized during his temporary tenure, according to AP News.
Upon swearing-in, Hamilton will oversee an agency of more than 20,000 employees. FEMA is currently managing more than 1,000 open disaster declarations, with the confirmation coming during a busy summer disaster season marked by destructive wildfires and dangerous flooding.
Other confirmed nominees included David Cummins, Trump's pick for Transportation Security Administration, and Daniel Perez, nominated as ambassador to Brazil.
Why It Matters
The confirmation represents a significant personnel shift at FEMA, an agency responsible for coordinating federal response to disasters across the United States. Hamilton's return to lead the agency after previously criticizing it and being fired creates continuity concerns given his earlier public opposition to eliminating the agency.
FEMA currently manages more than 1,000 open disaster declarations during what has been described as a particularly active summer disaster season. The agency is overseeing operations during destructive wildfires and dangerous flooding events across multiple states.
The confirmation also comes amid broader personnel changes at the federal level, with other key nominees including David Cummins for Transportation Security Administration and Daniel Perez for ambassador to Brazil receiving Senate approval in the same batch of 74 nominations.
Hamilton will have to shepherd that overhaul while stabilizing an agency recovering from Kristi Noem's tenure as Department of Homeland Security secretary, during which FEMA saw mass staff departures, disruptions to grant programs and delays of disaster aid, according to AP News.
While her successor, former Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin, has worked to reverse some of the upheaval, Democrats are accusing Trump of politicizing disaster relief. Trump has approved 80% of disaster requests from Republican governors but only about 60% from Democratic governors, a July analysis by The Associated Press found.
What to Watch
Hamilton will oversee an agency of more than 20,000 employees during a critical period of disaster response operations. The confirmation comes as FEMA manages ongoing disaster declarations while navigating personnel changes and potential policy shifts under the current administration.
The Senate's approval of Hamilton represents a significant vote on the agency's direction and leadership approach. His return to lead FEMA after previously criticizing it and being fired raises questions about how his perspective has evolved and what priorities he will pursue as permanent administrator.
In his June hearing before a Senate committee, Hamilton pledged to advocate for FEMA and its workforce while promising to ensure FEMA is "objective, is fair and reasonable, follows the law, and is consistent in the approach to how we adjudicate and process claims and requests for disasters," according to AP News.
He also maintained that the agency is burdened by bureaucracy and cannot be expected to respond to every disaster. "We would need to strike a new balance to encourage cost reasonableness and cost savings," he said.
Hamilton had limited emergency management experience before Trump named him FEMA's temporary leader in January 2025. Formerly a critic of the agency, Hamilton has said he came to appreciate FEMA's mission. His tenure proved short after he broke with Noem and other DHS officials over FEMA's future.
"I do not believe it is in the best interest of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency," Hamilton told a House panel in May 2025. He was fired the next day.
His stand drew admiration among some emergency management professionals. "It tells you enough who he is and how he will lead when the pressure is highest and the easy answer is the wrong one," Pete Gaynor, FEMA administrator in Trump's first term, said in a statement supporting Hamilton's confirmation.
The National Emergency Management Association said it welcomes Hamilton as the FEMA administrator.
Still, some FEMA staffers have remained wary of Hamilton's role in controversial decisions last year like canceling a multibillion-dollar resilience grant program.
FEMA has been an agency under siege. Hamilton will take over in the middle of a busy summer disaster season that has already brought destructive wildfires and dangerous flooding and as FEMA manages more than 1,000 open disaster declarations. He will be FEMA's first permanent administrator in Trump's second term, overseeing an agency eager for stability.
More than 4,300 employees separated from FEMA in the 2025 budget year, more than 1,500 through voluntary reductions, resulting in a "loss of institutional knowledge and experienced personnel," according to a Government Accountability Office report.
Since replacing Noem in March, Mullin has rehired for some eliminated positions and rescinded a rule that any expense greater than $100,000 needed to be approved by the secretary's office: a requirement that backlogged billions of dollars in disaster aid.
But DHS has also introduced policies stirring up new controversy. Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration last month over new election security requirements in FEMA counterterrorism grants to states.
The Trump administration and lawmakers are advocating for sweeping changes to federal disaster response. At a meeting of governors last weekend, Mullin called FEMA "bloated."
"The biggest reform you're going to see is more responsibility is going to go back to your states," Mullin said, with "FEMA there for worst of the worst, not every storm."
In May, a Trump-appointed FEMA Review Council recommended major changes to how the federal government supports states, tribes and territories during disasters. That could speed assistance but might reduce how much and how often FEMA helps. Many of the suggested changes require congressional action.
By the numbers
Source snapshot
Sources: - AP News: apnews.com - Government Accountability Office report cited in AP coverage