FEMA's acting administrator is out, for the third time under Trump
Source: Politico
FEMA’s acting administrator is out, for the third time under Trump
Karen Evans, who had led the agency since December, is the latest official to be removed from FEMA.
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FEMA Administrator Karen Evans listens during a press conference in the National Response Coordination Center at the FEMA headquarters in Washington, on Jan. 24, 2026. | Al Drago/Getty Images
By Thomas Frank
05/12/2026 04:14 PM EDT
The Trump administration has removed the acting leader of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and replaced her with a 30-year agency veteran who has held senior positions under several administrations.
The departure of Karen Evans, a political appointee who led FEMA since December, was disclosed Tuesday in a memo to FEMA staff that was obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News. It marked the third time that FEMA’s acting administrator had been replaced since President Donald Trump returned to the White House. That tempestuous period had been marked by agency firings, canceled grant programs and Trump’s threats to disband an agency that provides billions of dollars in disaster aid to states every year.
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The change comes as Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin asserts control over an agency that saw leaders come and go under his predecessor, Kristi Noem, who was fired in March. On Monday, President Donald Trump nominated Cameron Hamilton to lead FEMA, making him the first permanent administrator in Trump’s second term, if he’s confirmed by the Senate.
Hamilton was acting FEMA chief from January 2025 to May 2025, when he was fired. He returned to FEMA recently, the agency told E&E News, when he was appointed senior counselor to Mullin.
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Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/12/femas-acting-administrator-is-out-for-third-time-under-trump-00916239
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