New FEMA Leadership, Round 2

While temporary, the concern is that this administration is still poised to dismantle FEMA itself.

As of May 8, 2025, Mr. Cameron Hamilton is out at FEMA and Mr. David Richardson is in, as Senior Official Performing the Duties of FEMA Administrator.

U.S. President Donald Trump has designated Mr. Cameron Hamilton David Richardson as his new Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA). Unlike Mr. Trump’s pick (Mr. Peter Gaynor) from his first term, Mr. Hamilton Richardson is not a Certified Emergency Manager^®¹, and from what we can tell has not managed a large scale Office of Emergency Management (also unlike the outgoing administrator Ms. Deanne Criswell - appointed by President Biden - who ran NYC’s Emergency Management group). In the past, there have been a number of successful FEMA Administrators without this credential, but today the job of FEMA Administrator really aligns to a question of professionalism in our field of Emergency Management (and PKEMRA for an actual administrator appointment requires it). One would expect the Attorney General to be a practicing attorney. And the Surgeon General to be a practicing medical doctor. The same should be the case for a practicing emergency manager, our nation’s leading professional. It bears noting that Mr. Hamilton Richardson previously served as a United States Marine Corps ground combat officer. He has served the U.S. Federal Government as the previously appointed Assistant Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security's Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office (CWMD). He has a B.S. in biology from Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas.²