USA13 September, 20263 min read
Federal Judge Susan Illston Rules Trump DHS FEMA Staffing Cuts Unlawful
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US District Judge Susan Illston ruled DHS unlawfully ordered FEMA to cut half its staff. The ruling blocks a 50% FEMA staffing cuts plan amid union lawsuit.
FEMA cuts blocked
A federal judge ruled that a Trump administration plan to slash staffing at the Federal Emergency Management Agency was unlawful, finding the Department of Homeland Security acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” when it restricted FEMA’s ability to renew contracts for disaster-response reserve team employees.
The decision, issued by U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in Northern California, said DHS violated rules established after 2005’s Hurricane Katrina that put staffing decisions squarely in FEMA’s hands rather than DHS’s.
Illston wrote that “Frankly, the FEMA staffing plan number appears as if pulled from thin air,” and she directed the parties to meet and decide on a course of relief rather than ordering a specific remedy immediately.
The ruling came as unions challenged the administration’s efforts to downsize FEMA, and it followed DHS limiting CORE renewals to 180 days while it developed a plan to downsize the agency.
The court did not immediately order reversal or penalties, and Illston said those issues would be considered in a separate decision expected next month.
Signal messages and unions
In a separate part of the filing, Illston rebuked officials for deleting Signal messages that could have been used as evidence in the lawsuit, saying the use of Signal by former acting FEMA head Karen Evans and former DHS deputy chief of staff Joseph Guy violated federal law and department policy. The judge said Evans created a Signal chat that “would appear to be highly relevant to this case” with messages set to auto-delete after four weeks, and she shortened that period after being named a defendant. Illston also found that deleting the messages violated federal law and agency rules, and the court barred the administration from relying on earlier testimony denying plans for large-scale cuts to FEMA or DHS’s involvement.
The unions’ lawsuit was described as a victory for labor groups, with ClickOnDetroit saying the opinion was “a victory for labor groups who had sued the agency,” while CNN framed it as a “critical victory for union workers.” Even with the ruling, Illston did not decide the full scope of remedies, noting the unions had sought rescission of non-renewal notices and a halt to a plan to cut 50% of FEMA’s staff.
Workforce numbers at stake
The dispute centers on thousands of temporary FEMA reservists called CORE, which make up about 40% of FEMA’s workforce and are described as often among the first federal personnel to arrive during hurricanes and other major disasters. Al Jazeera reported that Illston said FEMA was projecting a workforce of 11,383 employees for the coming fiscal year—about half of its previous level—without a clear justification for the figure. ClickOnDetroit added that more than 4,300 employees, or about 17% of FEMA’s workforce, separated from the agency in the 2025 budget year, with over 1,500 through voluntary reductions, while the agency made about 2,900 new hires.
Illston’s ruling also emphasized that DHS continues to assume FEMA’s authority by requiring FEMA to offer contracts lasting no more than 180 days, even as the judge said FEMA was no longer systematically refusing to renew CORE contracts. The next steps were left to further proceedings, with Illston ordering the parties to meet and decide the scope of relief after the court barred the administration from relying on earlier testimony about the staffing-cut plan.