Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Friday announced the dismissal of two dozen FEMA employees over what she called “massive” cybersecurity failures that exposed government networks to risk.
Those fired included Chief Information Officer Charles Armstrong, Chief Information Security Officer Gregory Edwards, and 22 IT staffers.
“FEMA’s career IT leadership failed on every level. Their incompetence put the American people at risk,” Noem said in a statement. “When DHS stepped in to fix the problem, entrenched bureaucrats worked to prevent us from solving the problem and downplayed just how bad this breach was.”
Noem said a cybersecurity review at FEMA revealed the agency’s network had been accessed by “a threat actor,” the New York Post reported.
“Are we lucky no actual American citizens were impacted? Yes, but it’s a huge flaw,” a FEMA spokesperson told The Post. “DHS was able to identify and finally get the bad actor,” the rep added. “But they turned off their credentials and then, somehow, the FEMA IT team turned their credentials back on.”
It is unclear whether the threat originated from a foreign actor. However, the Department of Homeland Security was among several agencies targeted by Chinese state-linked actors using Microsoft software last month.
“As of this writing, Microsoft has observed two named Chinese nation-state actors, Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon exploiting these vulnerabilities targeting internet-facing SharePoint servers,” the company posted on its blog July 23.
Beijing-backed hackers also infiltrated SharePoint systems used by the National Nuclear Security Administration, the agency that manages the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile. FEMA, meanwhile, spent nearly $500 million on IT and cybersecurity in fiscal 2025.
DHS spokespeople told The Post that the IT team “lied to officials about the scope and scale of the cyber vulnerabilities” and “avoided scheduled inspections.” In addition, FEMA wasn’t utilizing multi-factor authentication while ignoring additional “critical vulnerabilities.”
“These deep-state individuals were more interested in covering up their failures than in protecting the Homeland and American citizens’ personal data, so I terminated them immediately,” Noem said. “The American people deserve results from their government.”
On his way out the door in early July, the fired acting head of FEMA defended its inadequate Biden-era disaster responses while taking some verbal jabs at the Trump administration.
Cameron Hamilton was called to the Department of Homeland Security headquarters in Washington, D.C., where he was dismissed by Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Troy Edgar and Corey Lewandowski, a senior adviser to President Donald Trump, Politico reported, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter.
The dismissal came just one day after Hamilton testified before a House Appropriations subcommittee, during which he appeared to contradict recent statements by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem regarding the possible elimination of FEMA and shifting funding for the agency to state-level emergency management, a move that Trump has been openly considering.
“I do not believe it is in the best interests of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” Hamilton said at the hearing.
FEMA’s press office confirmed Hamilton’s dismissal.
“Effective today, David Richardson is now serving as the Senior Official Performing the duties of the FEMA Administrator,” a spokesperson said in an email while referencing the assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security’s Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office. “Cameron Hamilton is no longer serving in this capacity.”
Hamilton, a former Navy SEAL, contemplated resigning about two months ago as the new Trump administration was taking shape, until FEMA staff urged him to remain, Politico said, quoting an anonymous source.
Shortly after taking office, Trump’s DHS fired four FEMA officials for an “egregious” payment to illegal immigrants.
DHS officials told Fox News that “four employees are being fired today for circumventing leadership and unilaterally making the egregious payment for hotels for migrants in New York City.”
