The Trump administration has appointed a former Navy SEAL who has spoken about the importance of retaining the Federal Emergency Management Agency's interim southern border administrator, according to two people familiar with the decision.
Cameron Hamilton has been named a “senior official to perform administrator duties,” said the people, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. He was appointed deputy administrator of the Office of Response and Recovery on Monday and was later appointed interim administrator.
Mr. Hamilton is an unusual choice to lead a government agency, even in a temporary capacity. Since Hurricane Katrina, when the federal government's response was heavily criticized, FEMA has been led by disaster management experts who previously ran state and local emergency management agencies or were FEMA's regional managers.
Mr. Hamilton does not appear to have experience coordinating responses to large-scale disasters such as the wildfires raging in Los Angeles or the hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes that FEMA typically handles. FEMA did not respond to requests for comment.
Before joining the Trump administration on Monday, Mr. Hamilton was director of business strategy at a defense contractor in Virginia, a position he took after losing a run for Congress last June.
Hamilton will serve as acting administrator and lead the agency until a permanent administrator is nominated by President Trump and confirmed by the Senate. Leading candidates for the position include Kevin Guthrie, director of the Florida Department of Emergency Management, according to a person familiar with the deliberations.
Hamilton, a Navy veteran, said he worked as an emergency management specialist at the State Department and as a department director at the Department of Homeland Security, where he managed about 4,000 emergency medical technicians along the southern border.
When Hamilton, a Republican, ran for Congress last year, he said immigration and the Mexican border were his top priorities.
“We've seen the southern border. We saw what happened when we transitioned in January 2021,” Hamilton told the Daily Progress newspaper in Charlottesville, Virginia, during the campaign. Ta.
As FEMA's acting leader, Mr. Hamilton could have the opportunity to work on border issues. It's not yet clear how or if President Trump will use FEMA for border security or immigrant deportation. However, Mr. Trump sent funds from FEMA to pay for migrant detention during his first administration, and there is a possibility that he may do so again.
Mr. Hamilton has posted on social media criticizing FEMA, including its decision to begin moving hurricane survivors from temporary housing in North Carolina. Last October, he reposted a message from Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida criticizing FEMA for its aid to illegal immigrants.
“That's right,” Hamilton wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “Why aren't more legislators saying this?”
Mr. Hamilton faces a difficult task at FEMA. In addition to the aftermath of fires in the Los Angeles area, the agency is also working to recover from the remains of Hurricane Helen in North Carolina and more than 100 major disasters across the United States.
David L. Phillips contributed reporting.
