Trump’s FEMA Cuts Crossed a Legal Line, Judge Rules

A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration acted unlawfully when the Department of Homeland Security directed the Federal Emergency Management Agency to pursue a plan that would have cut its workforce roughly in half.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston of the Northern District of California found that DHS improperly intervened in FEMA personnel decisions and violated statutory protections Congress enacted after Hurricane Katrina.

The ruling is a victory for the American Federation of Government Employees and other labor groups challenging the administration’s broader federal workforce reductions.

Judge Finds DHS Overstepped FEMA Authority

In a 32-page order on cross-motions for summary judgment, Illston found that DHS “unlawfully usurped the authority” of FEMA “to make its own personnel decisions” through workforce reductions carried out during 2025.

The dispute centered on the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act, which limits DHS from “substantially or significantly” reducing FEMA’s authorities, responsibilities or functions. Illston found that DHS violated those protections by directing changes to FEMA’s staffing and authority over temporary disaster-response positions.

The court also questioned the basis for a staffing target of 11,383 employees for the coming fiscal year, roughly half of the workforce level at the time. Illston wrote, “Frankly, the FEMA staffing plan number appears as if pulled from thin air,” and found DHS had acted in an “arbitrary and capricious” manner.

FEMA officials had objected to the proposed reduction. “Supervisors within FEMA, and FEMA’s Chief Human Capital Officer at the time, did not agree with the 50% staffing cut,” Illston wrote. The staffing plan nevertheless included the reduction “over the objections and analyses of FEMA’s own supervisors.”

The judge’s ruling followed a broader dispute over the administration’s efforts to reduce the federal workforce. The planned 50% reduction at FEMA was not ultimately carried out in full, although the agency experienced substantial departures and other workforce changes.

Court Challenges DHS Restrictions on CORE Employees

The ruling also addressed FEMA’s Cadre of On-Call Response/Recovery Employees, known as CORE employees, are full-time employees hired for two- to four-year terms to work across disasters rather than for a single disaster.

The court found that DHS improperly restricted FEMA’s authority to renew CORE appointments, a decision that labor groups challenged as part of the wider lawsuit.

The legal dispute was incorporated into a broader case brought by AFGE and allied labor organizations challenging several aspects of the Trump administration’s federal workforce reductions.

FEMA Already Faced Significant Workforce Losses

A Government Accountability Office report released Aug. 4 found that FEMA employed an average of about 25,134 people during fiscal year 2025. More than 4,300 employees separated from the agency during that year, a 55% increase in separations from fiscal year 2024.

GAO said the departures contributed to a loss of institutional knowledge and experienced personnel. It also found that FEMA had not based its 2025 and 2026 workforce-reduction decisions on an assessment of current staffing or future mission requirements.

The watchdog recommended that Congress consider requiring significant FEMA workforce decisions to be informed by strategic workforce planning. It also recommended that FEMA develop a strategic plan and a workforce-planning process that assesses staffing and mission needs.

GAO found that FEMA had rescinded its 2022-2026 strategic plan in May 2025 and had not issued a replacement plan as of July 2026.

Judge Awaits Parties’ Proposed Path Forward

Illston directed the parties to meet and determine how the court’s decision should be implemented.

The ruling leaves the administration and labor groups to address the appropriate relief while the broader dispute over FEMA’s workforce structure continues.

FEMA, in a statement, sidestepped the ruling’s substance. “Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin’s leadership, DHS and FEMA are ready for the 2026 hurricane season,” a FEMA spokesperson said. The agency added it was “ensuring workforce stability and a strong, deployable force for upcoming national events and potential disasters.”

The ruling comes as the 2026 hurricane season continues, placing renewed attention on whether FEMA has sufficient staffing and planning capacity to respond to major or concurrent disasters. GAO has warned that without stronger workforce planning, FEMA cannot be assured that it is positioned to effectively meet its mission needs.