Federal Emergency Management Agency, February 20, 2026 (Photo: Shauneen Miranda/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Federal Emergency Management Agency testified before a U.S. Senate committee Wednesday that, if confirmed, he would ensure disaster relief efforts are “objective” and “fair.”
Cameron Hamilton, who served as acting head of the agency before being fired and nominated for presidential confirmation in the Senate, has faced criticism from members of both political parties about the agency’s response time.
But it was Democrats who repeatedly pressed Hamilton on whether Republican-controlled states should receive a disproportionately higher number of disaster declarations than blue states.
“I certainly appreciate your concern,” Hamilton said. “I can say that if confirmed, I will focus on ensuring that FEMA is objective, fair and reasonable, follows the law, and has a consistent approach to how we adjudicate and process disaster claims and claims.”
Hamilton was previously the acting head of FEMA in the Trump administration, but he was ejected after he testified before Congress that he did not believe the agency should be eliminated.
Almost exactly a year after Trump was forced out formally nominated Hamilton to become FEMA administrator, sending his paperwork to the Senate without any fanfare.
Trump has repeatedly expressed complaints about the way the federal government prepares for and responds to natural disasters during his second term, saying he believes much of the responsibility should shift to states.
“We want to wean ourselves off FEMA and we want to bring it down to the state level,” Trump said in June 2025. “We’re taking it back to the states so the governors can deal with it. That’s why they’re governors. Now, if they can’t deal with it, they shouldn’t be governor.”
Review board established by Trump to recommend overhauls to FEMA issued its recommendations in May, calling on state governments to take more responsibility. Lawmakers have not yet taken any significant action to implement any of the proposals.
Favoring the red state?
Senators on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee did not ask Hamilton about his removal during the election confirmation hearingalthough he was questioned about staff reductions at FEMA and why the Trump administration appears to favor Republican states.
Michigan Democratic Senator Gary Peters, ranking member of the committee, commented: news article In March, Politico magazine published a finding that 23% of disaster funding applications were approved in Democratic states, compared with 89% in Republican-controlled states.
“No other president has created such disparities in states receiving federal disaster aid,” Peters said. “Rejecting more than 75% of applications from states led by representatives of another party is unwise.”
New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan also questioned Hamilton on the discrepancies, saying it was “unacceptable” for federal disaster aid to be approved based on vote.
“The idea that Americans who need help in the wake of a tornado, flood or hurricane should be treated differently because of politics is shameful,” she said.
Hassan then asked Hamilton if he agreed “that political and partisan considerations should play no role in the approval of disaster aid.”
Hamilton said yes, later adding that he didn’t believe Trump would hold back on disaster declarations or aid for political reasons.
Hawley believes FEMA is ‘snail-paced’ and ‘often misinformed’
Democrats weren’t the only committee members to express frustration with FEMA during the confirmation hearing.
Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley showed an enlarged photo of St. Louis after the tornadoes, arguing that FEMA took far too long to provide assistance to residents.
“As you can see, the damage is absolutely unbelievable,” Hawley said. “I walked these streets myself. Buildings were completely destroyed, houses were completely razed to the ground, churches whose roofs were torn off, whose sanctuaries were completely destroyed, streets were razed to the ground. The problem is that many of these neighborhoods don’t look much different now because in some cases they are still waiting for help.”
Hawley said this was not an isolated incident and that he believes FEMA’s response to natural disasters is “slow” and “often based on incorrect information.”
Hamilton said he believed the agency’s “disaster declaration process, as well as the federal mentoring associated with it, needed to be improved.”
“I believe states need to provide better customer service. I have full faith and confidence in the FEMA people, but we can do better,” Hamilton said. “There are a significant number of areas where this process needs to be simplified, better understood, and I think we owe it to ourselves to respond much more quickly.”
The items are restored
Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal pressed Hamilton on whether staff reductions would “jeopardize FEMA’s response.”
“I think certainly FEMA is operating in a unique environment where there are challenges and setbacks that impact our ability to respond,” Hamilton said.
Blumenthal then asked whether Hamilton believed there were enough employees at FEMA and whether fewer employees could result in the agency losing more people.
“I would agree that FEMA’s workforce must be scalable to best meet the agency’s needs and program and mission accomplishment,” Hamilton said.
Blumenthal pressed again, asking whether the agency’s leadership needed to “reinstate staffing at the levels necessary for morale and responsiveness.”
Hamilton said Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has approved the reinstatement of nearly 350 positions “to fill key vacancies in key program offices and key responsibilities.”
Western countries need a different approach
Arizona Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego urged Hamilton, if confirmed, to approach aid to western states that own vast swathes of federal land in a different way than states on the East Coast.
“I just want to emphasize that a one-size-fits-all approach to disaster response simply doesn’t work in the West,” he said. “And it’s not red state versus blue state or anything like that.”
Gallego urged Hamilton to make sure the agency takes into account states’ special characteristics, arguing that when a wildfire breaks out in his state, he needs FEMA to replant trees to prevent major flooding.
“Sometimes FEMA doesn’t pay to replant and reseed our forests, which results in even greater disasters the next year,” he said.
Hamilton said he understands the “unique paradigm” some states face since he grew up on the West Coast and has “family that has lost homes to wildfires and other significant natural disasters in the West.”
Hamilton said he believes FEMA disaster relief grants, which are designed to reduce risk and prepare states for future natural disasters, “should be uniquely tailored to address the challenges and threats each state faces on a variety of issues.”
