Exclusive: FEMA chief was set to be fired before public break with Trump

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Reuters

May 25, 2025 6:04 AM EDT Updated 3 hours ago


WASHINGTON, May 25 (Reuters) - Before Cameron Hamilton headed to Capitol Hill on May 7 to testify about the Federal Emergency Management Agency he was leading, the former Navy SEAL cleaned out his desk, knowing that he would soon be fired. That morning officials with FEMA’s parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, had called FEMA's security team to order them to revoke Hamilton's security pass and escort him from the building, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

A tense back-and-forth ensued, with FEMA officials warning that Hamilton, the agency's acting administrator, would need to cancel his planned congressional testimony. That could fuel the perception of instability at the disaster relief agency, the FEMA officials cautioned, the three people said.

DHS officials relented and Hamilton testified that afternoon, telling lawmakers he did not support the dismantling of the agency, contradicting the position of President Donald Trump, who had said he was considering abolishing FEMA altogether. Hamilton's dismissal the following day was widely seen as punishment for his testimony, a view the White House did not contradict in its statements on his departure.

But the sources familiar with the situation told Reuters that Trump's allies already wanted him out for what they saw as insufficient action to strip down an agency where many staff increasingly viewed him as something of a protector despite being a Trump appointee. "Cameron wasn't fired for his testimony at that congressional committee hearing. He knew well in advance," Matt Strickland, a longtime friend of Hamilton, told Reuters. Hamilton did not respond to requests for comment.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/fema-chief-was-set-be-fired-before-public-break-with-trump-2025-05-25/

[BoRaGard]

1. G.O.P. is loosing Climate Chaos on America

And trashing the competent people who know ways of helping people whose lives have been turned upside down by a 8-inch rainstorm, a tornado, a hurricane, or other natural disaters.

G.O.P. refuses to help people who need help.

G.O.P. sacrifices all to provide MORE TAX BREAKS for the rich.

Sick republicons. UnChristian. UnAmerican. UnWorthy.

[Blubird]

2. Got that right!

Sick Republicans, Unworthy. UnAmerican. Unchristian and Untruthful

[Prairie Gates]

3. A person Trumpies put in place less than ten weeks prior

If this was happening at a company where you worked it would be considered chaos.

[Karasu]

4. Of fucking course he was. Firing people for no fucking reason is all they know how to do.

[BurnDoubt]

5. I wonder who will make bank on the coming destruction?

And what the victims will do? And how will the displaced go on with their lives? And how will this affect society as a whole? Who wants to commit to home-ownership when you're likely to lose everything in a climate-related disaster? Particularly when government policy is to double-down on what the smart kids are saying is making the these events more likely and more powerful.