A federal judge has ruled that the Department of Homeland Security acted unlawfully when it moved to cut FEMA’s workforce roughly in half, finding the department overstepped a law passed after Hurricane Katrina that protects the disaster agency’s independence.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston ruled Friday that DHS violated federal law by seizing control of FEMA’s personnel decisions and pushing the agency toward mass layoffs. A 2005 statute, enacted in the wake of Katrina, bars DHS from “substantially or significantly” reducing FEMA’s authorities, responsibilities or functions.
Illston found the department crossed that line last year when it moved to block FEMA from renewing contracts for thousands of on-call reservists who deploy during 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.
The ruling did not set out remedies or penalties. Illston said those questions will be taken up in a separate decision next month, and gave both sides until Oct. 9 to file briefs on what relief is still needed.
Unions say cuts bypassed Congress
The unions that brought the lawsuit argued the staffing cuts were unlawful because they threatened FEMA’s core disaster-response work, were never approved by Congress, and were directed by then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem rather than by FEMA’s own leadership.
The administration has countered that FEMA has broad discretion to set its own staffing levels. President Trump has separately floated eliminating FEMA altogether and shifting emergency preparedness responsibility onto individual states.
In June, Illston had declined to immediately halt the cuts after concluding FEMA had, at least temporarily, backed off its layoff plans. But by Friday she found the agency was pressing ahead regardless, projecting staffing for the coming fiscal year at 11,383 employees—about half its earlier levels—without any documented justification for that number.
Fox News Digital reached out to DHS and FEMA for comment but did not receive an immediate response. A FEMA spokesperson previously told The Hill: “Under President Trump and [DHS] Secretary [Markwayne] Mullin’s leadership, DHS and FEMA are ready for the 2026 hurricane season. FEMA continues to maintain a roster of experienced leadership and support staff across headquarters and regional offices. No position is without experienced leadership.”
Deleted Signal messages count against DHS
In a separate ruling, Illston also criticized FEMA and DHS officials for discussing the staffing cuts over the Signal messaging app on personal phones and then deleting those messages. Because the records were destroyed, Illston said she would presume the missing texts “would have been unfavorable to Defendants because they would have been further evidence” of unlawful conduct.
