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A US District Judge has ruled that the Trump administration violated law by ordering the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to cut its workforce in half.
Susan Illston issued a ruling late Friday in which he mentioned that the US Department of Homeland Security “acted unlawfully by usurping FEMA authority over its own personnel and steering the agency to cut thousands of disaster-response jobs.”
A federal law enacted after Hurricane Katrina prohibits the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA, from significantly cutting the agency’s authority or responsibilities.
Illston ruled in favor of unions that sued the department, finding it violated this law by attempting to halt the renewal of temporary contracts for thousands of disaster-response reservists.
“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. Right now, the ruling did not include remedies and penalties.
The American Federation of Government Employees, alongside other unions, amended a lawsuit originally filed last year to challenge mass layoffs initiated by the Trump administration at FEMA.
The planned cuts are argued to be unlawful because they threaten FEMA’s disaster-response mission, evade congressional approval, and were ordered by former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem instead of coming from the agency
The Trump administration contends FEMA has wide flexibility regarding staffing levels. President Trump has previously suggested abolishing FEMA to shift emergency preparedness to the states, and last year established a council to review agency operations..
