President Donald Trump on Monday nominated Cameron Hamilton to head the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a striking return for the former Navy SEAL fired last year from his interim leadership role after he publicly supported the agency's survival.

The move arrives amid signs that the Trump administration is retreating from earlier vows to eliminate FEMA, which has endured sharp rebukes from the president. Hamilton's selection, given his stance against abolishing the agency, underscores this evolving position.

Should he win Senate confirmation, Hamilton would serve as the key advisor to Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on emergency management matters, becoming FEMA's first permanent leader in Trump's second term. The agency has cycled through three acting heads, including Hamilton's stint from January to May 2025.

He would inherit a troubled organization still recovering from Kristi Noem's chaotic oversight of the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA's parent body. The workforce has suffered from widespread exits, restrictive policies that impeded work, and a 75-day DHS shutdown that concluded on April 30.

Hamilton must ready FEMA for the approaching summer disaster period while responding to Trump, who likely anticipates substantial overhauls following recommendations from a presidential council issued last Friday.

"This presents a chance to steady FEMA," noted Michael Coen, who served as chief of staff during the Obama and Biden eras.

Though lacking experience as a state or local emergency director and having previously critiqued FEMA, Hamilton proved divisive when appointed acting head in January 2025, shortly before Trump suggested eliminating the agency.

Tensions with DHS escalated as Hamilton advocated for federal aid to disaster-struck states, tribes, and territories.

"When talk turned to outright abolition, I voiced my worries right away," he stated last September on the "Disaster Tough" podcast hosted by John Scardena, ex-leader of a FEMA incident management team.

DHS officials ordered a polygraph on him and others, alleging leaks from a confidential session. He passed but anticipated his ouster.

During a May 7 House Appropriations subcommittee hearing, Connecticut Democrat Rep. Rosa DeLauro questioned Hamilton on whether FEMA should be dissolved.

"Eliminating the Federal Emergency Management Agency does not serve the American public's best interests," he responded. He was dismissed the following day.

His bold defense of FEMA, despite the career risk, earned admiration from crisis response leaders, according to Scardena, now heading Doberman Emergency Management Group, a firm training emergency professionals.

"His actions converted me and many others," Scardena remarked.

Yet several anonymous current FEMA staffers, wary of retaliation, expressed unease to The Associated Press about certain decisions during Hamilton's watch.

In 2024, Hamilton posted on X content spreading false claims about FEMA's Hurricane Helene expenditures.

As acting leader, he halted door-to-door outreach for disaster survivors, axed a multibillion-dollar resilience grants initiative later reinstated by court order, allowed the Department of Government Efficiency into sensitive survivor data networks, and oversaw firings of staff who processed reimbursements to New York City under FEMA's Shelter and Services program for undocumented immigrants.

Hamilton advocates for deep FEMA reforms, pushing for quicker responses, shedding non-core duties, and reducing state overreliance. A Trump council last week called for major shifts needing Congress's approval.

"Rebuilding agency-wide trust will be essential," said Deanne Criswell, FEMA head under President Joe Biden, who noted Hamilton's genuine concern for the organization and his efforts to connect with emergency directors and ex-officials.

Senate confirmation may prove rocky due to Hamilton's absence of direct emergency agency leadership, a typical path to administering an outfit with over 21,000 personnel.

Statute demands the FEMA administrator show "demonstrated ability in and knowledge of emergency management and homeland security" plus five years of executive leadership.

A Navy hospital corpsman trainee, Hamilton spent a decade with SEAL Team Eight, later serving as a State Department crisis specialist abroad and directing emergency medical services at DHS.