A U.S. judge has determined that the Trump administration illegally ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to slash its workforce by half, a move deemed a violation of federal law.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, based in San Francisco, issued a ruling late Friday stating that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) acted unlawfully. The judge found that DHS overstepped its bounds by usurping FEMA's authority over its own personnel and directing the agency to eliminate thousands of crucial disaster-response positions.
Despite FEMA operating under DHS, a federal statute enacted following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 explicitly states that the department "may not substantially or significantly reduce (FEMA's) authorities, responsibilities, or functions."
![A person sits at a desk inside of a mobile FEMA command center after tornadoes ripped through several U.S. states in downtown Dawson Springs, Kentucky, December 14, 2021.]()
A person sits at a desk inside of a mobile FEMA command center after tornadoes ripped through several U.S. states in downtown Dawson Springs, Kentucky, December 14, 2021.
Jon Cherry | Reuters
Agreeing with unions that initiated the lawsuit, Judge Illston concluded that DHS violated this law last year when it moved to prevent FEMA from renewing the temporary contracts of thousands of on-call reservists essential for disaster response efforts.
"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 in her decision.
Friday's ruling did not specify remedies or penalties; Judge Illston, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, indicated these would be addressed in a separate ruling next month. She also invited the parties to submit briefings on the scope of relief she should provide to the unions.
Both FEMA and DHS did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Saturday regarding the judge's decision.
Democracy Forward, a left-leaning advocacy group representing the plaintiffs, praised the ruling in a statement. Skye Perryman, the group's president and CEO, remarked, "Congress created FEMA to operate with independence, given its mission to prepare and respond quickly when disasters arise."
The unions had amended a lawsuit in January, originally filed last year, that challenged broader mass layoffs initiated by the Trump administration. They contended that the planned workforce reductions at the emergency management agency were unlawful because they would undermine FEMA's core disaster-response mission, lacked Congressional approval, and were dictated by former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem rather than originating within FEMA itself.
The Trump administration had previously argued that FEMA possesses considerable flexibility in determining appropriate staffing levels. Former President Donald Trump had, on occasion, suggested that FEMA should be abolished and that states should bear the sole responsibility for emergency preparedness. Last year, Trump established a council tasked with reviewing the agency's operations.
In June, Judge Illston initially declined to immediately block the job cuts, noting that FEMA had, at least temporarily, retreated from its plans. However, she wrote on Friday that FEMA appeared to be resuming the cuts, projecting staffing levels for the upcoming fiscal year at 11,383 employees—approximately half of previous levels—without any documented basis for this specific number.
In a separate, related decision, the judge also criticized FEMA and DHS officials for using the Signal messaging app on their personal cell phones to communicate about staffing cuts and subsequently deleting these messages. Illston stated that these messages would have been relevant to the lawsuit and moving forward, she would presume "that the lost Signal messages would have been unfavorable to Defendants because they would have been further evidence" of unlawful conduct.
