Noem Dismisses Dozens of FEMA Staff After Major Cybersecurity Failure
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced Friday that she had dismissed more than two dozen Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) officials after what she described as “massive” cybersecurity failures that placed U.S. government systems and citizens’ data at risk.
The sweeping terminations included Chief Information Officer Charles Armstrong, Chief Information Security Officer Gregory Edwards, and 22 IT staff members.
“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.”
A review of FEMA’s cyber defenses revealed that its systems had been infiltrated by “a threat actor,” according to the New York Post.
One FEMA spokesperson admitted:
“Are we lucky no actual American citizens were impacted? Yes, but it’s a huge flaw. DHS was able to identify and finally get the bad actor. But they turned off their credentials and then, somehow, the FEMA IT team turned their credentials back on.”
While investigators have not yet confirmed the origins of the breach, the timing raises concerns. Just last month, the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies were targeted by Chinese state-backed hackers exploiting Microsoft software weaknesses.
“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 wrote in a July 23 blog post.
Beijing’s hackers also managed to compromise SharePoint systems used by the National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees America’s nuclear weapons arsenal. Despite spending nearly $500 million on IT and cybersecurity in fiscal year 2025, FEMA was found to be cutting corners—avoiding multi-factor authentication, ignoring critical vulnerabilities, and even lying to DHS inspectors about the true scope of the problem.
Noem made clear that this behavior would not be tolerated under President Donald J. Trump’s leadership.
“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,” she said. “The American people deserve results from their government.”
Fallout at FEMA Leadership
The purge comes on the heels of another major shakeup inside FEMA. Earlier this summer, acting FEMA head Cameron Hamilton—a former Navy SEAL—was summoned to DHS headquarters in Washington, D.C., where he was fired by Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Troy Edgar and senior Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski, according to Politico.
Hamilton’s dismissal occurred just one day after he contradicted Noem’s testimony before Congress regarding President Trump’s consideration of eliminating FEMA and shifting responsibilities to state-run emergency management agencies.
“I do not believe it is in the best interests of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” Hamilton told lawmakers in a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing.
Soon after, FEMA confirmed Hamilton’s exit:
“Effective today, David Richardson is now serving as the Senior Official Performing the duties of the FEMA Administrator,” the agency’s press office stated.
Hamilton had reportedly considered resigning earlier this year as the Trump administration reshaped DHS, but colleagues convinced him to stay on—at least temporarily.
This latest shakeup follows earlier actions by DHS under Trump, when four FEMA officials were removed after authorizing taxpayer-funded hotel stays for illegal immigrants in New York City without approval.
A DHS spokesperson told Fox News at the time:
“Four employees are being fired today for circumventing leadership and unilaterally making the egregious payment for hotels for migrants in New York City.”
The ongoing house-cleaning inside FEMA underscores the Trump administration’s insistence that federal agencies must prioritize national security, transparency, and the American people—rather than bureaucratic self-preservation.