A federal judge on Friday said the Trump administration acted broke the law by telling the Federal Emergency Management Agency to cut half its employees.
Unions suing the federal government said in 2025 and early 2026, DHS leadership created a plan to cut FEMA from roughly 23,000 to 11,500 employees, starting with its Cadre of On-Call Response/Recovery, or CORE, staff.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston of the Northern District of California said in her ruling Friday that this “impeded” the agency’s ability to perform its functions.
The Department of Homeland Security “acted arbitrarily and capriciously,” she said, by removing this ability.
FEMA’s staffing plan number, Illston said, “appears as if pulled from thin air.”
“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 record instead reflects that DHS was exempt from the President’s hiring freeze but then interpreted ‘new hires’ under the hiring freeze to include FEMA CORE term renewals.”
The Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act, which was passed by Congress in 2006, establishes FEMA as a “distinct entity” within DHS, Illston noted, but forbids the Homeland Security Secretary from “substantially or significantly reducing ‘the authorities, responsibilities, or functions’ of FEMA.”
“DHS acted unlawfully in usurping FEMA’s authority over its personnel,” Illston said, and FEMA “acted unlawfully in acquiescing to DHS’s exertion of authority over FEMA’s CORE renewals and staffing numbers.”
Former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem wanted for a while to cut back on CORE staffing, former senior officials told The Washington Post earlier this year. Documents obtained by the newspaper in January showed the potential reductions would have cut at least 4,300 roles, or 41% of the CORE team.
A FEMA spokesperson said in a statement to Straight Arrow that the agency “continues to maintain a roster of experienced leadership and support staff across headquarters and regional offices.”
“This ruling proves this admin is not above the law,” Democracy Forward, an organization representing the plaintiffs, said on X. “We’ll keep fighting in court with a remarkable coalition of clients to ensure workers are protected and FEMA can do the job Congress created it to do.”
Illston ordered both parties to meet about the “scope of relief, in light of today’s ruling.” If they aren’t able to come to an agreement, she said, they are required to file a joint statement on what relief remains outstanding by Oct. 9.
The Court will then issue a ruling on what relief will be given, Illston said.
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