{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/ahead-of-severe-weather-season-king-and-colleagues-call-on-white-house-to-nominate-an-experienced-fema-administrator", "Ahead of Severe Weather Season, King and Colleagues Call on White House to Nominate an Experienced FEMA Administrator", "2025-06-11", "2025", "2025-06", "Independent", "Senate", "ME", "Angus S. King, Jr.", "K000383", "www.king.senate.gov", "angusking", "https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/table", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 With Maine facing a severe weather season, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME) joined his colleagues calling on the White House to nominate an experienced Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administrator. In a letter to President Donald Trump, King and his colleagues expressed serious concern about the ongoing absence of a Senate-confirmed FEMA Administrator and steps his administration has taken to weaken and destabilize the agency, including the abrupt termination last month of Cameron Hamilton, the Senior Official Performing the Duties of FEMA Administrator.\n\nTo date, President Trump has failed to nominate an Administrator or appoint someone who satisfies the qualifications specified for the role. David Richardson \u2014 Mr. Hamilton\u2019s replacement as the Senior Official Performing the Duties of FEMA Administrator \u2014 told agency staff last week that he did not know the United States has a hurricane season.\n\n\u201cIn recent months, your administration has reduced FEMA staff by roughly 30%, rescinded grant funding local communities rely on to recover from disasters and significantly scaled back emergency management training for state officials,\u201d wrote the Senators. \u201cTaken together, these actions have impeded ongoing recovery efforts and undermined the national response to future natural disasters.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe agree that FEMA can do better and needs reform. But dismantling the agency and weakening its leadership will only leave states and localities stranded when disaster strikes. To preserve the long-term integrity of FEMA and ensure our nation\u2019s preparedness for future disasters, we urge you to nominate a qualified Administrator that will restore confidence in the agency as soon as possible,\u201d the Senators concluded.\n\nIn addition to Senator King, the letter was cosigned by Senators Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and Maggie Hassan (D-NH).\n\nThe full text of the letter can be found here and below.\n\n+++\n\nDear President Trump,\n\nAs peak disaster season approaches, we write with serious concern about the ongoing absence of a Senate-confirmed FEMA Administrator and steps your administration has taken to weaken and destabilize the agency.\n\nTo date, you have failed to nominate an Administrator or, in the absence of such an official, appoint someone who satisfies the qualifications specified for that role in statute. The abrupt termination of Cameron Hamilton as the Senior Official Performing the Duties of FEMA Administrator last month injected further instability into an agency already struggling to navigate mass reductions in force.\n\nMr. Hamilton\u2019s termination came just one day after his appearance in front of the House Appropriations Committee, at which he testified, \u201cI do not believe it is in the best interests of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency.\u201d\n\nWe share Mr. Hamilton\u2019s concerns. In recent months, your administration has reduced FEMA staff by roughly 30 percent, rescinded grant funding local communities rely on to recover from disasters, and significantly scaled back emergency management training for state officials. Taken together, these actions have impeded ongoing recovery efforts and undermined the national response to future natural disasters.\n\nMr. Hamilton\u2019s departure leaves a vacuum of leadership at FEMA. David Richardson \u2014 Mr. Hamilton\u2019s replacement as the Senior Official Performing the Duties of FEMA Administrator\u2014 told agency staff last week that he did not know the United States has a hurricane season. Mr. Richardson will head the federal response to any hurricanes that hit our shores this season.\n\nWe agree that FEMA can do better and needs reform. But dismantling the agency and weakening its leadership will only leave states and localities stranded when disaster strikes.\n\nTo preserve the long-term integrity of FEMA and ensure our nation\u2019s preparedness for future disasters, we urge you to nominate a qualified Administrator that will restore confidence in the agency as soon as possible.\n\nSincerely,\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T01:08:28Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/ahead-of-severe-weather-season-king-and-colleagues-call-on-white-house-to-nominate-an-experienced-fema-administrator"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4489758759737015, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}