The dismissal of acting Federal Emergency Management Agency head Cameron Hamilton plunges an already fraught agency into deeper uncertainty. Hamilton was fired from the agency Thursday after he said eliminating FEMA would not be in the “best interest” of the American people — contradicting pushes to do so from President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

The day after telling a House subcommittee that the Federal Emergency Management Agency should not be eliminated, Cam Hamilton, FEMA’s acting head, was fired.

The ouster of Cameron Hamilton, less than a month before the start of the hurricane season, came a day after he told lawmakers that FEMA was vital to communities “in their greatest times of need” and should not be eliminated.