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

By Nathan Layne and Ted Hesson

WASHINGTON (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.

“This is lazy gossip," a DHS spokesperson said in response to questions about Hamilton's removal. The spokesperson said Hamilton was not fired and is now a senior adviser at the Department of Education. A spokesperson for the Education Department said Hamilton was working on school safety issues and foreign influence on university campuses.

AGENCY ROILED BY DEPARTURES

Strickland said Hamilton had clashed with long-time Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski, a key aide to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The tensions included the fallout over a disbursement of grants to New York City to cover the cost of housing migrants that FEMA later clawed back.

Strickland said he was fired as a government contractor for DHS this month after he posted a message on social media defending Hamilton. In a response to his post, DHS said on X that Strickland could only be fired by the contractor who employed him.

Lewandowski contested that clashes with Hamilton contributed to Hamilton's ouster from FEMA.

"None of this is true," Lewandowski said in a text message. "Cameron Hamilton chose to take a new opportunity at the Department of Education advising on school security."

The previously unreported behind-the-scenes drama sheds new light on the circumstances of Hamilton's dismissal, which came just over three weeks before the June 1 start of what forecasters say will be an above-normal hurricane season.

The agency, which coordinates the federal response to natural disasters, has been roiled by the loss of hundreds of staff and low morale. Last week a raft of senior executives exited en masse, raising further questions about the agency's preparedness for hurricane season.

Hamilton's dismissal highlights Trump's determination to overhaul FEMA and a willingness to jettison even loyalists who do not move fast enough.

The move is not without political risk for Trump, whose Republican Party could face the wrath of voters if hurricane relief efforts go poorly and the turmoil at FEMA is blamed. Experts have warned that shrinking or reorganizing FEMA could leave local and state governments more vulnerable to facing natural disasters alone.

Hamilton was replaced by David Richardson, a Marine Corps veteran with no emergency management experience and who was serving as assistant secretary of the DHS' office for countering weapons of mass destruction.

In his first address to staff, Richardson vowed to implement Trump's wishes and "run right over" employees who got in his way. In a subsequent address he told staff he believed the agency was well prepared for hurricane season.

POLYGRAPHS AND LEWANDOWSKI

Hamilton, who worked in the State Department during Trump's first term and has been an unflinching backer of the president, came into the acting FEMA administrator position skeptical of the agency's mission and staff, the three sources said. 

But, as he toured FEMA's offices and got to know its employees, he came to believe that while FEMA needed reform it still had an important role to play in disaster response, the sources said.

In his first statement to staff after being appointed in January he acknowledged "you are the foremost experts in this critical work," and that "I am here to serve as an advocate for you," according to a copy reviewed by Reuters.

That nuanced view increasingly put him at odds with Noem and Lewandowski, who had made it known to others at DHS they felt Hamilton was being "too nice" to FEMA staff, even as he oversaw the elimination of hundreds of agency jobs, two of the sources said.

The first outward sign of tension came in late March when several FEMA employees were given a polygraph test to determine who leaked to the press information about a private meeting that included Hamilton, Noem and Lewandowski, according to two of the sources. Noem had discussed radically shrinking FEMA and shifting costs for disaster response to the states, Politico and CNN reported at the time.

Lewandowski called Hamilton and accused him of being the leaker, two of the sources said. Soon after, Hamilton received an email from DHS' office of the chief security officer stating that his candor and character were in question and that he was required to submit to a polygraph examination, one of the sources said.

While Hamilton was cleared by the test, he continued to clash with Lewandowski over FEMA's direction, and in late April Hamilton told some senior FEMA staff it was possible he would be fired, two of the sources said.

On the morning of his testimony, Hamilton put all his belongings into bags, ready to pick up after he got back from the Hill, one of the sources said.

But he would last one more day. He was fired on May 8 by Lewandowski and Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Troy Edgar during a short meeting at DHS headquarters, two of the sources said.

(Reporting by Nathan Layne in New York and Ted Hesson in Washington; Editing by Ross Colvin and Deepa Babington)