President Donald Trump is to embarrass Kristi Noem by hiring a key executive less than a year after she very publicly fired him from the same job.
Noem hired Cameron Hamilton as acting chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency—which is overseen by the Department of Homeland Security—last January, but by May she had axed him.
Now, Trump plans to nominate Hamilton to run FEMA once more, but this time on a permanent basis.
Noem fired Hamilton for speaking out against the administration’s plans to gut FEMA, but he also frequently clashed with her and Corey Lewandowski, the top Trump aide who has long been rumored to be having an affair with Noem, CNN reported.
At the time, a DHS spokesperson said that Hamilton’s firing was at the “discretion” of Noem to have the “personnel she prefers.”
Bringing Hamilton back into the fold is the latest eyebrow-raising reversal involving FEMA and DHS since Trump fired Noem in March, following a scandal-ridden tenure as homeland security secretary.
This includes her successor, Markwayne Mullin, bringing back Troy Edgar to serve as deputy secretary after he left the department when Trump tapped him as ambassador to El Salvador, following the collapse of his relationship with Noem.
Mullin also quickly eliminated a policy introduced by Noem and Lewandowski that required all DHS contracts and grants over the relatively small amount of $100,000 to be personally approved by them. The extra layer of bureaucracy was blamed for unnecessary delays, including delays in vital disaster response efforts by FEMA.
Trump offered Hamilton the job to lead FEMA on a permanent basis on Wednesday, sources told the Associated Press.
Hamilton’s reluctance to dismantle FEMA, as Noem demanded, was one of the biggest sticking points during his time as acting administrator last year.
“I do not believe it is in the best interest of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” Hamilton told a congressional hearing in May 2025. “Having said that, I’m not in a position to make decisions and impact outcomes on whether or not a determination as consequential as that should be made.”
Hamilton was fired and escorted out of FEMA headquarters the following day.
Noem also made Hamilton take a lie detector test in an attempt to determine whether he had leaked details about a private meeting regarding the future of FEMA.
Hamilton, a former Navy SEAL, needs Senate confirmation before he can lead FEMA full-time. His lack of experience as a state emergency management director and in senior leadership roles may hinder his confirmation process.
The Daily Beast has contacted FEMA for comment.
