Trump nominates two to lead FEMA, TSA

President Donald Trump nominated Cameron Hamilton Monday to lead the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a surprising comeback for the former Navy SEAL who was fired from his role as FEMA’s temporary leader last year after he defended its existence.

His nomination comes as the Trump administration has increasingly signaled it is backing away from promises to dismantle FEMA, an agency that has faced withering criticism by the president. The nomination of Hamilton, who argued abolishing FEMA was not in the country’s best interests, is the latest indication of that change.

If confirmed, Hamilton would be the principal adviser to Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on emergency management and FEMA’s first permanent administrator in Trump’s second term. The agency has gone through three temporary leaders, including Hamilton’s brief tenure from January to May 2025.

He would take over an embattled agency still reeling from Kristi Noem’s turbulent leadership of the Department of Homeland Security, of which FEMA is part. FEMA’s workforce has been worn down by mass staff departures, policies that hamstrung operations, and a 75-day-long DHS shutdown that ended Apr. 30.

Hamilton will need to ensure the agency is prepared for summer disaster season, just weeks away, while answering to Trump, who is likely to expect major reforms after a council he appointed recommended sweeping changes last Friday.

During his temporary leadership, FEMA ceased door-to-door canvassing to reach survivors after disasters, and canceled a multibillion-dollar resilience grant program, since restored by a federal judge. The Department of Government Efficiency gained access to internal FEMA networks containing survivors’ private information. FEMA staff were fired for fulfilling a reimbursement payment to New York City for housing undocumented immigrants as part of FEMA’s Shelter and Services program.

Hamilton has said he believes FEMA needs major reform. He has said that he wants FEMA to move faster, that the agency is saddled with responsibilities he sees as outside its remit, and that some states have become too dependent on the agency. A Trump-appointed council last week urged sweeping changes to FEMA, which would require congressional action.

Trump also on Monday nominated David Cummins to head the Transportation Security Administration — which has had a rocky few months as employees went without paychecks and security lines grew long at airports across the country.

Cummins, who worked as a senior vice president at Serco, a government contractor that works with local and federal agencies, would take over a TSA bruised by the longest partial government shutdown in history, which ended late last month.

During periods of the shutdown, employees at the TSA, currently overseen by acting administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill, went without pay, thousands didn’t show up to work, and hundreds quit entirely. It left travelers frustrated over delays and missed flights and politicians pointing fingers over who was to blame for shutting down the Department of Homeland Security.

Cummins has experience in transportation at Serco, and says on a LinkedIn profile, which appears to have been taken down, that he was co-awarded a “dozen patents in transportation systems.” His profile also touted that he was the director of operations for the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002.

A spokesperson for Serco did not immediately return a request for comment from Cummins.