Congress’ oversight agency is investigating whether President Donald Trump violated federal law by appointing Cameron Hamilton to run the Federal Emergency Management Agency as an acting chief, a position that the president’s critics contend requires a background that Hamilton lacks.
The Government Accountability Office confirmed to POLITICO’s E&E News that it had opened an inquiry after receiving a request last week from top Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee who questioned if Hamilton, a former Navy SEAL, is “legally serving in his position.”
“We have begun the review using our standard practices for issuing legal decisions,” the GAO said in an email.
A Trump supporter and former Republican congressional candidate, Hamilton is facing criticism from Democrats who argue that his lack of emergency management experience violates conditions in federal law passed by Congress in 2006.
