A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration acted unlawfully in ordering cuts that would have halved the workforce of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
US District Judge Susan Illston said the Department of Homeland Security’s plan to remove more than 11,000 FEMA employees by the end of September was “arbitrary and capricious”. The proposed reductions included thousands of temporary, full-time staff who help communities prepare for and recover from disasters.
“Frankly, the FEMA staffing plan number appears as if pulled from thin air,” Judge Illston wrote in her ruling on Friday.
The administration did not ultimately implement the full 50 per cent reduction, although FEMA’s workforce had already fallen significantly. The American Federation of Government Employees, which brought the legal challenge, argued that the cuts would seriously weaken the agency’s ability to respond to emergencies.
Temporary staff known as Cadre of On-Call Response/Recovery, or CORE, employees account for about 40 per cent of FEMA’s workforce. Their assignments usually last two or four years and have often been renewed, allowing the agency to adjust staffing as disaster and recovery needs change.
CORE employees became a target under Kristi Noem, the former Homeland Security secretary who was ousted by President Trump in March. Mr Trump has called for FEMA to be abolished and for responsibility for disaster response to be transferred to the states.
A federal watchdog report found that sharp staff reductions had limited FEMA’s ability to respond to hurricanes and other natural disasters, particularly when several occurred at the same time. Cameron Hamilton, the agency’s administrator, acknowledged in June that the cuts presented “challenges” to the country’s disaster readiness.
A FEMA spokesman said the agency was “ensuring work force stability and a strong, deployable force for upcoming national events and potential disasters”. The Department of Homeland Security and the union did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Judge Illston has ordered the parties to meet and attempt to agree on the scope of the remedy by October 9. If they fail to reach an agreement, the court will rule on what relief should be granted.
