Trump’s FEMA nominee says disaster agency should ‘strike a new balance’ to save money

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During his Wednesday confirmation hearing, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administrator nominee Cameron Hamilton sought to toe the line between restoring order after a turbulent year at the agency and President Trump’s desire to scale down federal disaster aid.

Hamilton was FEMA’s acting head last year until he was fired in May 2025 after he said that FEMA should not be eliminated, rebuffing Trump and then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

Trump nominated Hamilton to lead the agency in April after Noem’s exit.

While the Trump administration has moved away from saying FEMA needs to be eliminated outright, it has indicated that the federal government should pay less of the costs created by disasters.

During his confirmation hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Hamilton indicated that the federal government needs to keep a watchful eye on state spending and seek to “strike a new balance” that encourages cost savings.

“I think many states and local officials have had incentives to drive up costs,” Hamilton said.

“Yes, they’re entitled to support. We, as the agency, have confirmed we would need to strike a new balance to encourage cost reasonableness and cost savings,” he added.

Hamilton said he would want to “strike a new balance to encourage cost reasonableness and cost savings.”

However, he also backed off an idea he floated last year that would have quadrupled the threshold for states to qualify for a major disaster declaration and attached federal assistance.

“That is not my position, and that is not a position that was ready for implementation or adoption,” Hamilton said.

He described the proposal as “part of a series of conversations that we had had with different elements of the federal executive to look at areas where disaster assistance might be reformed.”

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