FEMA nominee promotes resilience, risk reduction, readiness

Presenter: Cameron Hamilton, nominated as FEMA administrator, says if confirmed by the Senate, he would: release a 30-day report with analysis and recommendations for reform; support transparency at FEMA; overhaul its IT system; and serve all Americans regardless of political party.  At the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs June 17, Sen. Andy Kim: 

Sen. Andy Kim: Mr. Hamilton. We have the FEMA Review Council moving forward on some recommendations, saying full well that FEMA should exist, that it’s important that it exists, but that there are real reforms that can happen. 

I wanted to ask if you can commit to this Committee, that you will work with Congress, work with us, even for some of the things that don’t necessarily require legislative fixes, but that we can make sure we’re doing this together and to be able to make sure that it is in line with congressional intent. 

Cameron Hamilton (Nominated as FEMA administrator): Thank you. Senator, it would be my honor to. 

If confirmed, I plan to release a 30-day report on my analysis and recommendations for the future areas where FEMA can reform, as well as also to take insight from both senators and members of Congress on potential avenues for collaboration and further partnership. 

And then in addition to that, I plan to have regular meetings at intervals with meeting with members and senators to ensure that they have their questions answered on a timely basis. 

Presenter: From Arizona, Sen. Ruben Gallego:

Sen. Ruben Gallego: Mr. Hamilton, the FEMA Review Council has recommended raising cost thresholds and creating new minimum annual standard expenditure requirement… 

Just to be clear, like, rural communities east of the Mississippi are entirely different than rural communities west of the Mississippi. East of Mississippi have very little federal land where communities west of the Mississippi are, you know, my state, for example, is 65% tribal and federal land. If you go up to Utah, Nevada, they could get up to 90%.

So even when you guys do set FEMA parameters, it’s a very East Coast bias or even a West Coast bias, but certainly not a Western, you know, bias where we have a lot of federal land that’s locking up our ability to actually expand our tax base. 

There’s not really much of any way for us to actually raise the threshold that we need to meet to get the match.

The FEMA Review Council’s recommendations focused heavily on event-based disasters like hurricane or earthquakes. But our biggest risk in Arizona is wildfire, post-fire flooding, drought, extreme heat, and cascading infrastructure impacts that come from all that.

So there’s a huge gap between recommendations and what’s often looked at, again, for Western states.

Do you believe the Stafford Act / FEMA needs to better account for slow onset and compounding disasters? Would you support reforms that explicitly preserve fire management assistance grants, strengthen post-fire mitigation and improve eligibility for drought and heat-related impacts?

For non-Westerners if we have a forest fire, we have to go and replant reseed before the rain comes because then we could get massive flooding that comes in. 

Sometimes FEMA does not pay for the replanting and reseeding of our forests, which end up causing even greater disasters a year from now.

Cameron Hamilton (Nominated as FEMA administrator): Senator, excellent question. I think you bring up a unique context that many don’t fully understand on the West Coast. 

I grew up on the West Coast, so I very much appreciate what you’ve identified. I’ve had family who’ve lost homes from fires and other significant natural disasters out west. It is a unique paradigm.

My approach, if confirmed, will be to ensure that disaster assistance flow quickly and rapidly, and that the objectives are clear, but also to ensure that our pre-disaster resilience— 

I see resilience as an operational arm of what the agency can achieve. And so those pre-disaster grants to actually engage in risk reduction and readiness activities should be uniquely suited to handle the challenges and threats facing each state on the nuanced issues that they face. 

Presenter: From Florida, Sen. Ashley Moody:

Sen. Ashley Moody: In the aftermath of some very devastating storms, I was forced as attorney general in Florida to bring a lawsuit against President Biden’s FEMA administrator and a FEMA supervisor after it was uncovered that the supervisor had instructed disaster relief workers in Florida to, and I quote, ‘avoid homes advertising Trump.’

And to be clear, these instructions weren’t merely sent and forgotten. They were carried out. FEMA personnel canvassed Lake Placid, Florida, and in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, they intentionally skipped homes with Trump signs and flags.

Members of the community were reeling after that storm, trying to figure out how they were going to provide for their family, safeguard their property. And yet, FEMA employees were instructed to avoid homes that advertised support for the president.

This FEMA supervisor who sent that message later claimed that the practice was not isolated to Lake Placid or even to Florida, and that the political discrimination within FEMA was far more widespread.

In fact, when I got here to be the United States senator, having been the attorney general and uncovering that, litigating against that, pushing back on political discrimination within FEMA, I realized after hearing from so many of my constituents around the state that there were many claims outstanding that had not been paid from storms going back into the Biden administration that were just sitting there. 

It has been over $1 billion I have had to push to get released on storms that went back into the last administration. 

So I am grateful that we are seeing such progress. I am grateful that that money is now flowing into Florida. I don’t like the fact that I had to become a senator in order to get it done. but proud of my new role and glad to serve the great state of Florida and the people of Florida. 

But I want to talk to you, Mr. Hamilton, about ensuring that politics does stay out of disaster response.

Can you tell this committee what your plans are to make sure, number one, that we do a thorough review on a politically neutral basis, making sure these are are our claims that are vetted, claims that they are real, claims that they are monies that should be paid according to our statutes and our regs, and approach these in an efficient way and comply with the new law as the new administrator. 

Cameron Hamilton (Nominated as FEMA administrator): Well, thank you for the question, Senator. And I would tell you that I deeply care about the needs of your constituents and all Americans across this country in getting timely assistance. They deserve to have a government that is devoid of politics, that is able to execute the mission first and foremost. 

What I will state is that some of the tools and technology that FEMA uses is a bit antiquated, that would help facilitate this with better care and would actually provide the customer service that I think is appropriate for every survivor. Right now, there’s a lot of difficulty with survivors understanding where they fall in that FEMA ‘circle of death’ that I talk about with where their claim is and how it’s adjudicated. 

Sen. Ashley Moody: As well as cities and counties. 

Cameron Hamilton (Nominated as FEMA administrator): That’s correct. 

Sen. Ashley Moody: And do you believe that you can use that new law, that TRACK Act—the accountability that’s built into that—and implement that in a way that will help in this? 

Cameron Hamilton (Nominated as FEMA administrator): I believe that right now, FEMA is currently taking steps to implement some of those same approaches, and it would be my focus, if confirmed, to ensure that we remain consistent. 

Yes, I do believe that additional legislation, as you’ve mentioned, would be exceedingly helpful in doing that. If confirmed, I’m planning to do a significant IT overhaul of the entire agency for better accountability.

Presenter: From Michigan, Sen. Gary Peters:

Sen. Gary Peters: Mr. Hamilton. Under President Trump’s second administration, nearly 90% of Republican states’ disaster assistance request have been approved. That compares to only 23% of Democratic states’ requests.

Since the establishment of FEMA, no—and let me highlight—no other president has created such a disparity in states that receive federal disaster aid. Denying over 75% of requests from states that are led by representatives of another party is unconscionable.

We have a chart here. I’ll just show you the chart here, This is pretty stark data. From Trump, high Republican states—boom—a collapse in Democratic states. Given the stark data, what other conclusions can one draw other than the president is using federal disaster assistance to punish states that elect Democrats? 

So my question for you, sir, is: Does a disaster survivor in a blue state deserve less support than a survivor in a red state? 

Cameron Hamilton (Nominated as FEMA administrator): Senator, thank you for your question. What I can tell you is I care deeply for survivors, and I believe the president does as well. I believe all survivors who have faced high consequence events deserve the proper care, support and resources of the United States government brought to bear. 

Sen. Gary Peters: So how do you explain this discrepancy here? 

Cameron Hamilton (Nominated as FEMA administrator): Well, Senator, I certainly appreciate your concern. What I can tell you is that if confirmed, my focus will be to ensure that FEMA is objective, is fair and reasonable, follows the law, and is consistent in the approach to—

Sen. Gary Peters: Well— 

Cameron Hamilton (Nominated as FEMA administrator): How we adjudicate and process claims and requests for disasters. 

Sen. Gary Peters: Well, I’m going to get back to that. But, you know, I would just want to say and I seem to recall my colleagues on the other side of the aisle here were absolutely incensed by several instances during President Biden’s tenure, where FEMA representatives skipped houses with Trump signs.

I call that out as well. I thought that was unaccountable. I’m on the record condemning that, my Republican colleagues are condemning that.

And now that the federal government is deciding not to skip a few homes, but entire states, I would hope my colleagues would join me with that outrage that they had when a few houses were skipped.

Presenter: From New Hampshire, Sen. Maggie Hassan:

Sen. Maggie Hassan: The idea that Americans who need help in the wake of a tornado or a flood or a hurricane should be treated differently based upon politics, is shameful. It is un-American. So, Mr. Hamilton, do you agree that politics and partisan considerations should play no part in approving disaster assistance? 

Cameron Hamilton (Nominated as FEMA administrator): I do, ma’am. 

Sen. Maggie Hassan: Thank you. If you recommend that disaster assistance should be approved and the president disagrees based upon his political or personal considerations, what would you do? 

Cameron Hamilton (Nominated as FEMA administrator): Well, thank you for the question, ma’am. I think that every disaster has to be adjudicated and evaluated on their own merits. So we would take the consideration of the Public Assistance Individual Assistance team, formulate what we believe to be an appropriate course of action, and make strong recommendations to the president. My goal will be to make that process, if confirmed, as clear and objective as possible. 

Sen. Maggie Hassan: But what would you do if he says, ‘Look, it’s led by a Democratic governor. So I’m just not going to follow your recommendation. I get it, but I want to punish the Democrats so they’re not getting it.’ What would you do? 

Cameron Hamilton (Nominated as FEMA administrator): Well, that’s a very odd hypothetical. I don’t believe the president would do that. But I will tell you that my oath of office requires that I follow and obey the law. 

Sen. Maggie Hassan: Well, I do believe, given the evidence that we’re seeing right now, that the president would do it, because that’s the only explanation for that kind of gap between the awards of disaster assistance. We have a president who does some outrageous things.

Presenter: Florida Sen. Rick Scott asked about the wide variation in rates and cost-sharing. The nominee suggested that under the Stafford Act and other statutes, the federal cost share can fluctuate, and that the system offers incentives for states to drive up costs. Cameron Hamilton:

Cameron Hamilton (Nominated as FEMA administrator): The Stafford Act and other legislative actions stipulate the balance between federal and state investment; states then commute some of that investment down to the local level. This is the unique paradigm that is always in fluctuation within various disasters.

The hurricanes that we saw with Helene and Milton, there was 100% cost share where the federal government pays for the entirety of the disaster. That is a discretion that the president may have at times, or a 90% cost share, in the event that the devastation is more particularly egregious and cataclysmic, that clearly transcends the state’s ability to respond.

Now, these are balances that have to be struck, and this is ultimately a decision space, as in law, for the commander-in-chief.

My job is, if confirmed, will be to represent to him all the objective facts and to ensure that as we liquidate and expense dollars in accordance with his decision, that we do so with reasonableness and that we’re wise with those dollars to go further.

My focus is to help as many disaster survivors as possible, which means we have to be responsible with how we use those funds. 

Sen. Rick Scott: So if the state and the county have less and less skin in the game, do you think they’re going to watch the money? 

Cameron Hamilton (Nominated as FEMA administrator): I’ll be transparent with you, Senator. I think many states and local officials have had incentives to drive up costs. I think this is also a unique challenge within disaster management and response.

Now, 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. So yes, there are direct incentives for states to escalate costs because they bring home more resources and infrastructure. We have quite a bit of deferred maintenance.

This is always an issue with FEMA grants, where states will then request that reimbursements be made to cover other disaster related, you know, devastation that wasn’t directly connected to the one which was requested.

It’s never an easy battle. My goal is to be transparent and to partner with states so that we can ensure that those dollars go further and that we can ensure that states are also being responsible with us.

I think the president very clearly cares to ensure that states have their own skin in the game as well, so that they’re paying their apportionment. The Stafford Act in the second paragraph stipulates state responsibilities to respond to disasters, federal responsibility then to come in and support those efforts.

Presenter: From Connecticut, Sen. Richard Blumenthal:

Sen. Richard Blumenthal: Mr. Hamilton, let me ask you about the current staffing of FEMA. Can you tell me how many people are currently working in FEMA Region 1? … Are you aware that that number represents cuts of anywhere from 20% to 30% of staff over the last year? 

Cameron Hamilton (Nominated as FEMA administrator): Senator, I am aware that there have been many cuts and reductions in staff. Yes, sir. 

Sen. Richard Blumenthal: Don’t those cuts jeopardize the responsiveness of FEMA? 

Cameron Hamilton (Nominated as FEMA administrator): I think certainly FEMA operates in a unique environment where there are challenges and setbacks that impact our ability to respond. What I can tell you is I have full faith and confidence in the FEMA workforce. I believe they are an exceptional group of public servants. 

Sen. Richard Blumenthal: They are an exceptional group of public servants, I’m very confident in their ability and dedication, but there are simply not enough of them and you will lose more of them unless you are adequately staffed. Do you agree? 

Cameron Hamilton (Nominated as FEMA administrator): I would agree that the FEMA workforce needs to be scalable in such a way to best meet the needs of the agency and the execution of the program and mission. 

Sen. Richard Blumenthal: Doesn’t it need to be increased? In other words, to restore the staff levels essential to their morale as well as their responsiveness? 

Cameron Hamilton (Nominated as FEMA administrator): Well, I do want to praise (Homeland Security) Secretary (Markwayne) Mullin. With his approval and under his leadership, there has been roughly just shy of 350 positions that were made available again to fill critical vacancies in key program offices and key responsibilities. I believe Secretary Mullin is a man of principle and cares very deeply about ensuring that the workforce is sufficiently staffed commensurate to the responsibilities.

Presenter: From Missouri, Sen. Josh Hawley:

Sen. Josh Hawley: Mr. Hamilton, my experience in the state of Missouri, when we have a natural disaster: FEMA is slow. FEMA is often ill-informed. FEMA does not interface well with residents. 

I remember one incident when we had severe flooding in the state a few years ago where FEMA not only took forever to get on the ground and get a disaster declaration ready to go for the president, but also when it came to awarding individual aid (which was needed in these tornadoes too, by the way)—

When it came to awarding individual aid, FEMA awarded individual aid to some farmers whose houses have been completely destroyed and then later tried to claw it back.

I kid you not, went to the farmer and said, you know, ‘Actually we know that you applied and we approved it, and we gave it to you several months ago. But we changed our minds and we want it all back.’ I mean, you can’t make this stuff up. It is absolutely ridiculous.

So here’s my question to you: Will you come in and take the reins of this agency and make it actually work for the people of my state and every state who, when they’re facing these disasters, they need quick relief. They need quick responses. Our citizens need to know what’s available to them, how to apply, how to get the relief they need.

Will you take the reins on this agency and start making it work? 

Cameron Hamilton (Nominated as FEMA administrator): Yes, Senator. It would be my privilege and honor to serve the American people and to do just that.

I think the disaster declaration process and also the federal mentorship that goes into it needs to be improved. I believe states need to receive better customer service. 

I have full faith and confidence in FEMA workforce, but we can do better. And there’s a significant amount of areas where that process should be simplified, better understood. And we owe you answers, I think much faster. 

Presenter: The man nominated as FEMA administrator responds to questions about the FEMA Review Council recommendations.