US disaster agency director fired ahead of hurricane season
The Trump administration has fired Cameron Hamilton, the acting director of the U.S. Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), less than a month before the start of hurricane season.
The day before his firing, Hamilton told Congress that the service was vital and should not be disbanded, a sentiment both President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have expressed before, The Washington Post reports.
FEMA dissolution“I do not believe it is in the best interest of the American people to disband the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” Hamilton told the committee.
“That said, I am not in a position to make decisions and influence the outcomes as to whether or not such a drastic decision should be made.”
Noem told Congress a day earlier that Trump believed FEMA should be abolished. Trump criticized FEMA's response to Hurricane Helene last year and suggested the agency "stand down" and the agency's responsibilities be turned over to the states themselves.
Subsidies cancelledIn February, the government also laid off hundreds of FEMA workers and canceled plans to provide disaster preparedness grants, raising concerns that authorities will not receive enough support as the hurricane and fire season approaches.
Hamilton, who previously worked at the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security, has led the disaster management agency since January.
Since Donald Trump became president, there have been many resignations. For example, Attorney General Sean Brennan was fired, who prosecuted Trump supporters who stormed the House.
RTL Nieuws
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