Three Key Takeaways:
- Kristi Noem, as Homeland Security Secretary, took aggressive action against suspected leakers within FEMA, including forcing Acting FEMA Administrator Cameron Hamilton to undergo a lie detector test after confidential meeting details were leaked to the press.
- The leak centered on Noem’s controversial plan to eliminate FEMA, a proposal that was announced publicly before FEMA staff was informed, causing significant tension within the agency and triggering Noem’s crackdown on information leaks.
- Noem’s handling of the situation reflects the Trump administration’s commitment to strict message control and transparency, with a clear warning to federal agencies that leaking sensitive information will not be tolerated.
Kristi Noem is turning into Donald Trump’s attack dog at the Department of Homeland Security.
The former South Dakota Governor isn’t messing around with White House leakers.
And Kristi Noem forced the FEMA chief to take a lie detector test after this shocking revelation came to light.
Noem goes nuclear on suspected leakers
Hell hath no fury like Kristi Noem after confidential information hits the press.
The no-nonsense Homeland Security Secretary hauled FEMA Acting Administrator Cameron Hamilton in for a polygraph test after details of a private meeting mysteriously landed in reporters’ hands.
Multiple sources confirmed to POLITICO’s E&E News that Hamilton was subjected to a polygraph after a March 25 meeting between Noem, Hamilton, and Trump advisor Corey Lewandowski leaked to the press.
The test was administered within two days of the meeting and Hamilton was cleared of being the source of the leak.
Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin made no apologies for the extreme measure.
“Under Secretary Noem’s leadership, DHS is unapologetic about its efforts to root out leakers that undermine national security,” McLaughlin said in a statement to POLITICO.
“We are agnostic about your standing, tenure, political appointment or status as a career civil servant – we will track down leakers and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law,” she added.
Noem blindsided FEMA with elimination plan
The meeting that triggered the crackdown centered on Noem’s plan to dramatically slash FEMA and shift disaster recovery responsibilities to the states.
One day before the private meeting, Noem had announced during a televised Cabinet meeting, “We’re going to eliminate FEMA.”
The revelation sent shockwaves through the emergency management community, with FEMA staffers left completely in the dark about their agency’s future.
“We heard about it on TV like everyone else,” one FEMA official told POLITICO.
When news of the follow-up meeting with Hamilton was disclosed by E&E News and CNN on March 26, Noem was apparently determined to find the source of the leak.
The FEMA chief, who has no background in emergency management, appears increasingly sidelined in decision-making about the agency’s future.
Sources close to Hamilton say he has expressed frustration to colleagues about his lack of control over FEMA’s fate.
Trump puts Noem in charge of FEMA’s future
President Donald Trump has yet to appoint a permanent FEMA administrator, instead naming Hamilton as assistant administrator shortly after taking office.
Under FEMA’s rules, Hamilton automatically became acting administrator because there was no official administrator or deputy in place.
Hamilton, a former Navy SEAL with no emergency management experience, is a sharp departure from tradition. Every FEMA chief since 2009 has previously led a state emergency management agency.
Just three days before Noem’s bombshell announcement about eliminating FEMA, Hamilton had addressed hundreds of state and local emergency managers at a Washington, D.C. conference, outlining his plans for the agency’s future.
Those plans were apparently overruled when Trump created an advisory council to review FEMA and recommend changes, putting Noem and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in charge – not Hamilton.
Noem’s aggressive stance on leakers shows the Trump administration’s determination to maintain message discipline and control information coming from federal agencies.
The use of polygraph tests, while controversial in scientific circles, sends a clear message that Cabinet Secretaries have been empowered to take extraordinary measures to identify and punish those who share information without authorization.
Hamilton, who served in non-supervisory positions at the Department of Homeland Security and State Department from 2015 to 2023, now finds himself navigating a precarious position as Noem and Trump’s team determine FEMA’s fate.
