Why it Matters
On June 17, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will consider nominations for positions in two agencies that have been in visible crisis: the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which went more than 15 months without a permanent leader during an active period of disaster response, and TSA, which saw over 1,000 officers walk off the job amid missed paychecks and a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding lapse that left travelers facing long security lines at airports nationwide. The nominees up for confirmation will step into roles where institutional dysfunction has already had direct consequences for the public.
The Senate nomination hearing, chaired by Sen. Rand Paul with Sen. Gary Peters Sr. serving as Ranking Member, convenes at 9:00 AM at 342 Dirksen Senate Office Building.
The Big Picture
The most closely watched nomination at the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (HSGAC) committee hearing may be Cameron Hamilton, nominated to be FEMA Administrator. FEMA distributes roughly $45 billion a year to help states and individuals recover from natural disasters, yet cycled through three temporary leaders between January and May 2025 alone.
Hamilton testified before a House Appropriations subcommittee on May 7, 2025, stating he did not believe it was in the best interest of the American people to eliminate FEMA and was fired as acting administrator of FEMA the following day. President Trump formally nominated him to lead the agency on May 11, 2026, approximately one year later. If confirmed, Hamilton would be FEMA's first permanent administrator in Trump's second term.
The TSA nomination carries its own urgency. David Cummins, also nominated on May 11, 2026 to be TSA Administrator, currently serves as senior vice president of citizen services at Serco, a government services contractor. The agency he would lead has been through significant turbulence. TSA workers missed two full paychecks as of March 27, 2026, with employees describing skipped meals, eviction notices, and repossessed cars. DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin warned on April 21, 2026 that the department would run out of money for paychecks in May due to a two-month shutdown of DHS funding. Over 1,000 TSA officers left their jobs as the funding crisis dragged on.
The Archivist and Oversight Roles
The committee will also consider Bradford Pentony Wilson, nominated to be Archivist of the United States. The Archivist oversees the National Archives and Records Administration, which is responsible for preserving presidential records. Wilson, former long-time Executive Director of the James Madison Program, would replace Colleen Joy Shogan. His nomination was received by the Senate on March 2, 2026, and the Society of American Archivists issued a statement on March 12, 2026 saying it is "monitoring" his nomination.
Rounding out the slate of HSGAC hearing nominations: Hal Duncan (Deputy Director, Office of Management and Budget), Brian Cavanaugh (Under Secretary for Management at DHS), Don Richard Berthiaume Jr. (Inspector General of the Department of Justice), Charles Baldis (Special Counsel at the Office of Special Counsel), James Woodruff (Member of the Merit Systems Protection Board), Charlton Allen (General Counsel of the Federal Labor Relations Authority), and four Florida nominees, including Jeffrey Brodsky, William Gallo, Anthony Lomangino, and Robert Steffens, each nominated to be a Governor of the United States Postal Service.
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