Trump’s plan to halve FEMA workforce illegal, judge rules

A federal judge determined Friday that the Trump administration broke the law when it attempted to cut the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) workforce, a ruling which coincided with America’s hurricane season.

In her order , U.S. ‌District Judge Susan Illston said the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) “unlawfully usurped the authority” of FEMA “to make its own personnel decisions.”

Illston, appointed under former President Clinton, found that DHS violated a federal law established in 2005 in the wake of Hurricane Katrina that said the department “may not substantially or significantly reduce . . . the authorities, responsibilities, or functions of” FEMA.

Initial January court filings from FEMA, unions and public interest groups alleged DHS directed the agency’s management to plan for a 50 percent staffing cut, including its Cadre of On-Call Response/Recovery Employees (CORE) — who had already received notices that their positions would not be renewed.

The judge found “DHS acted arbitrarily and capriciously when it revoked FEMA’s long-standing authority to renew CORE appointments.”

“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,” Ilston wrote.

Illston said the parties have until Oct. 9 to submit briefings on “what relief remains outstanding” in this case.

The Trump administration has scrutinized FEMA throughout the president’s second term —enforcing funding and staffing shortages, as well discussing the agency’s abolition.

Since former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem left the department, Secretary Markwayne Mullin said his intention for the agency was “to refocus FEMA to get it back on what its mission originally was.”

FEMA Administrator Cameron Hamilton also indicated his hope for the agency was “that the final outcomes will be ways to truly reform emergency management as an entire industry to make it better, faster, and more efficient with how it delivers,” he told the Asheville Citizen-Times last week.

The new focus came at the same time FEMA’s review council recommended in June that the agency to instead shift responsibilities to state, local and tribal authorities, as well as privatize flood insurance.

DHS and FEMA did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.