He was FEMA's acting administrator under President Donald Trump[1] from January 26, 2017,[2] until his successor Brock Long was confirmed on June 23, 2017.

Fenton performed the duties of the FEMA administrator in January 2021, while Pete Gaynor was serving as the acting secretary of homeland security and was succeeded by New York Emergency Department Commissioner Deanne Criswell.

[3] Fenton served as the Chief of Field Operations for Portable Water Supply System, based in Redwood City, California.

In that capacity, he deployed to Central Africa as a lead member of the U.S. emergency response relief effort to bring lifesaving assistance to Rwandan refugees.

[4] Fenton worked at FEMA Headquarters as the Acting Deputy Operations Branch Chief in 2007, leading the development and implementation of the Incident Management Assistance Teams.