Rapidfeed
Dec 25, 2025

30.Cameron Hamilton was called to the Department of Homeland Security headquarters in Washington

On his way out the door, the now-fired acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency defended its inadequate Biden-era disaster responses while taking some verbal jabs at the Trump administration.

Cameron Hamilton was called to the Department of Homeland Security headquarters in Washington, D.C., where he was dismissed by Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Troy Edgar and Corey Lewandowski, a senior adviser to President Donald Trump, Politico reported, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter.

 

The dismissal came just one day after Hamilton testified before a House Appropriations subcommittee, during which he appeared to contradict recent statements by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem regarding the possible elimination of FEMA and shifting funding for the agency to state-level emergency management, a move that Trump has been openly considering.

“I do not believe it is in the best interests of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” Hamilton said at the hearing on Wednesday.

“Effective today, David Richardson is now serving as the Senior Official Performing the duties of the FEMA Administrator,” a spokesperson said in an email while referencing the assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security’s Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office. “Cameron Hamilton is no longer serving in this capacity.”

 

Hamilton, a former Navy SEAL, contemplated resigning about two months ago as the new Trump administration was taking shape, until FEMA staff urged him to remain, Politico said, quoting an anonymous source.

Shortly after taking office, Trump’s DHS fired four FEMA officials for an “egregious” payment to illegal immigrants.

DHS officials told Fox News that “four employees are being fired today for circumventing leadership and unilaterally making the egregious payment for hotels for migrants in New York City.”

 

The firings come after Elon Musk wrote on X that “The DOGE team discovered that the agency sent “$59M LAST WEEK to luxury hotels in New York City to house illegal migrants.”

 

“That money is meant for American disaster relief and instead is being spent on high-end hotels for illegals. A clawback demand will be made today to recoup those funds,” Musk posted on X.

The finding came weeks after Trump announced plans to reform FEMA during a visit to North Carolina as many residents there continued their recovery from Hurricane Helene, which struck the state last fall.

 

“I’ll also be signing an executive order to begin the process of fundamentally reforming and overhauling FEMA, or maybe getting rid of FEMA,” Trump told reporters Friday morning during his visit. “I think, frankly, FEMA is not good.”

 

Trump also pledged that his administration would provide assistance to North Carolina to help repair the damage swiftly, assuring the state that he would “do a good job” in the recovery efforts.

 

“We’re going to fix it, and we’re going to fix it as fast as you can,” Trump said. “It’s a massive amount of damage. FEMA has really let us down. Let the country down. And I don’t know if that’s Biden’s fault or whose fault it is, but we’re going to take over. We’re going to do a good job.”

 

Trump also expressed a desire to see states take on more responsibility when disasters occur, arguing that local officials are better equipped to respond to and manage relief efforts. He promised to collaborate with three lawmakers from areas impacted by Hurricane Helene, criticizing FEMA for being “not on the ball” in aiding North Carolina’s recovery after the hurricane.

 

“So we’re going to be doing something on FEMA that I think most people agree [with],” Trump said. “I’d like to see the states take care of disasters, let the state take care of the tornadoes and the hurricanes and all of the other things that happen. And I think you’re going to find it a lot less expensive. You’ll do it for less than half, and you’re going to get a lot quicker response.”

 

Mamdani Wins NYC Mayor’s Race, Pledges Sweeping Socialist Reforms

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani delivered a fiery victory speech late Tuesday, promising to deliver on his progressive agenda and declaring his election a historic mandate for change.

 

Mamdani, 34, who will become New York City’s first socialist, first Muslim, and first mayor of South Asian descent, claimed victory at Brooklyn’s Paramount Theatre, The New York Post 

 

reported.

The Uganda-born lawmaker said his win belonged to all immigrant New Yorkers and condemned Islamophobic attacks on his campaign.

“As Eugene Debs once said, I can see the dawn of a better day for humanity,” Mamdani said, quoting the early 20th-century socialist presidential candidate.

 

He also invoked the words of Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister, saying, “A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new.”

 

Raised on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Mamdani thanked working-class New Yorkers who powered his campaign.

“Fingers bruised from lifting boxes on the warehouse floor, palms calloused from delivery bike handlebars, knuckles scarred with kitchen burns — these are not hands that have been allowed to hold power,” he said. “And yet, over the last 12 months, you have dared to reach for something greater. Tonight, against all odds, we have grasped it.”

 

Mamdani’s remarks mixed gratitude with defiance, targeting President Trump and former Governor Andrew Cuomo while promising sweeping reforms.

 

“New York, tonight you have delivered a mandate for change, a mandate for a new kind of politics,” Mamdani said. “We won because we insisted that no longer would politics be something that is done to us. Now, it is something that we do.”

 

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