The acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was fired Thursday, one day after telling lawmakers he did not think it was in the public’s interest to eliminate the agency.
A FEMA spokesperson confirmed Cameron Hamilton was no longer serving as acting administrator. That role is now being filled by David Richardson, who was appointed in January as assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security’s Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office.
Hamilton testified Wednesday on Capitol Hill, where he was asked about the push from the Trump administration to get rid of FEMA and largely turn over disaster response to the states.
“I do not believe it is in the best interests of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” Hamilton told lawmakers.
He added that he was not in a position to make such a decision and that it should be between the White House and Congress to determine what was the most logical use of federal funding for emergency response.
Hamilton’s ouster also comes just weeks before the start of the Atlantic hurricane season.
Welcome to The Hill’s Energy & Environment newsletter, I’m Rachel Frazin — keeping you up to speed on the policies impacting everything from oil and gas to new supply chains.
News we’ve flagged from other outlets touching on energy issues, the environment and other topics:
New FEMA head says he will ‘run right over’ staff who resist his changes (Reuters)
On Our Radar
Upcoming news themes and events we’re watching:
Next week
The Senate may take up President Trump’s picks for the No.2 roles at the Energy and Interior departments
Wednesday
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is slated to testify before the Senate Appropriations Committee
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for Energy and Interior nominees
The Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a hearing on nominees for the EPA, FHA and Army
The House Science, Space and Technology Committee will hold a hearing titled “Forecasting Disaster: NOAA’s Transparency, Trust, and Scientific Integrity in Crisis”
Thursday
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is slated to testify before the House Appropriations Committee
The House Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing titled “Fix Our Forests: How Improved Land Management Can Protect Communities in the Wildland-Urban Interface
The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will hold a hearing on pipeline safety
White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said Friday that President Trump and his team are “actively looking at” suspending habeas corpus as part of the administration’s immigration crackdown. Read more
Texas lawmakers have passed a ban on nonmedical sales of THC, the intoxicating ingredient in cannabis, sending the measure to Gov. Greg Abbott (R). “If it gets you high, it is not legal anymore” state Rep. Tom Oliverson (R), who sponsored the House bill, told The Dallas Morning News. In passing…
Immigration protests in Los Angeles and President Trump’s military response are dominating the news cycle, but it’s Trump’s threat to decimate California’s federal funding that has education experts worried. Golden State schools would be particularly harmed by such a move, advocates say, and in many places, state and local…
A federal appeals court panel late Thursday allowed President Trump to keep the National Guard deployed in Los Angeles, for now. The three-judge 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel unanimously extended its pause of a judge’s order finding Trump’s deployment illegal and forcing him to return control of the…