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Federal Judge Rules Homeland Security Plan to Cut FEMA Staff in Half Unlawful
Confirmed
In Short: A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration's directive for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to cut its workforce in half is unlawful.
A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration's directive for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to cut its workforce in half is unlawful, according to reports. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston found that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) acted unlawfully by taking control of FEMA’s authority over its own personnel and pushing the agency to slash thousands of disaster-response jobs.
The unions that sued argued that the planned cuts are unlawful because they would undermine FEMA’s core disaster-response mission, were not approved by Congress, and were ordered by then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem instead of FEMA officials. The judge said the department violated the law last year when it sought to stop FEMA from renewing the temporary contracts of thousands of on-call reservists who respond to disasters.
In her ruling, Judge Illston wrote that FEMA appeared to be moving forward with the job cuts, projecting its staffing levels for the upcoming fiscal year at 11,383 employees, or about half of previous levels, without any basis for picking that figure. She said FEMA’s messages would have been relevant to the lawsuit and that she would now presume “that the lost Signal messages would have been unfavorable to Defendants because they would have been further evidence” of unlawful conduct.
The administration has contended that FEMA has considerable flexibility to determine proper staffing levels. However, the judge's decision means that FEMA must now find a legal way to proceed with its staffing plans. The parties have until Oct. 9 to submit briefings on “what relief remains outstanding” in this case.
The ruling comes as the Trump administration has suggested that FEMA should be eliminated and that states should handle their emergency preparedness. In June, Illston declined to immediately block the job cuts, ruling that FEMA had at least temporarily abandoned its planned layoffs.
What's confirmed
- A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration’s directive for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to cut its workforce in half was unlawful.
- U.S. District Judge Susan Illston found on Friday that the Department of Homeland Security acted unlawfully by taking control of FEMA’s authority over its own personnel and pushing the agency to slash thousands of disaster-response jobs.
- Illston said the department violated the law last year when it sought to stop FEMA from renewing the temporary contracts of thousands of on-call reservists who respond to disasters.
- “There is no evidence in the record reflecting reasoned decision-making for this about-face or for the subsequent conditions DHS placed on FEMA’s renewal authority,” Illston wrote.
- The judge said the parties have until Oct. 9 to submit briefings on “what relief remains outstanding” in this case.
- The unions that sued argued that the planned cuts are unlawful because they would undermine FEMA’s core disaster‑response mission, were not approved by Congress and were ordered by then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem instead of FEMA officials.
- But on Friday, the judge wrote that FEMA appeared to be moving forward with the job cuts.
- She said FEMA projected its staffing levels for the upcoming fiscal year at 11,383 employees, or about half of previous levels, without any basis for picking that figure.
What's still developing
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- This would be devastating for seniors who rely on their Social Security payments.
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