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Home Front: Politix
Federal judge rules Trump admin plan to cut FEMA workforce in half is unlawful
2026-09-14
[FOX] 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.
Clinton nominee, so OLD
Although FEMA is under DHS, a federal law adopted after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 states that the department "may not substantially or significantly reduce (FEMA's) authorities, responsibilities, or functions."

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.

Illston's ruling did not include remedies or penalties, noting that those would be addressed in a separate ruling next month.

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.
Related:
Susan Illston 07/09/2025 Supreme Court green-lights Trump's order for mass firings across federal government - POLITICO
Susan Illston 05/10/2025 [SF] Judge puts temporary pause on Trump's mass layoffs at government agencies
Susan Illston 03/18/2013 Federal Judge Finds National Security Letters Unconstitutional, Bans Them

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