CA, US & World
Federal Judge Rules Trump Administration’s FEMA Staffing Cuts Illegal
A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration acted unlawfully when it directed the Federal Emergency Management Agency to reduce its workforce by roughly half.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston said the Department of Homeland Security improperly interfered with FEMA’s authority over its own personnel and directed the agency toward a 50% staffing reduction without a sufficient basis. The ruling was issued Friday in a lawsuit brought by federal employee unions challenging the administration’s workforce reductions.
The dispute included FEMA’s decision not to renew contracts for thousands of temporary on-call disaster responders, known as CORE employees. Those workers make up a significant portion of FEMA’s workforce and are deployed during disasters.
Illston found that DHS had unlawfully taken control of staffing decisions that federal law places with FEMA. A law enacted after Hurricane Katrina prohibits DHS from substantially or significantly reducing FEMA’s authorities, responsibilities or functions.
The judge also criticized the handling of communications related to the staffing decisions. FEMA and DHS officials used the Signal messaging app on personal phones to discuss matters relevant to the case, and some of those messages were deleted.
Illston said the deleted messages appeared relevant to the lawsuit and indicated that the court would presume the missing messages would have been unfavorable to the government because they could have provided additional evidence concerning the challenged actions.
The ruling is a victory for the labor unions involved in the lawsuit, including the American Federation of Government Employees.
The judge did not immediately order a specific remedy or penalty. Instead, the parties were directed to work toward an agreement on the appropriate scope of relief, with further proceedings expected.
Although FEMA has experienced significant staffing losses, the planned 50% reduction was not fully carried out. The agency has also rehired some employees following leadership changes at FEMA and DHS.
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By: NBC Palm Springs
September 13, 2026
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