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Judge rules Trump unlawfully cut FEMA staff
The gist
A federal judge ruled the Trump administration's plan to halve FEMA's staff was unlawful.
The decision shields disaster-response jobs, with remedies to be decided next month.
How it unfolded
- 2025DHS moved to stop FEMA from renewing temporary contracts of thousands of on-call disaster reservists, and top Homeland Security officials directed FEMA leadership to submit a staffing plan including a 50% cut despite objections from agency supervisors. Trump also created a council to review FEMA's operations.
- 2026 -01Unions amended a lawsuit they had filed last year that more broadly challenged mass layoffs initiated by the Trump administration.
- 2026 -06Judge Illston declined to immediately block the job cuts, finding FEMA had at least temporarily backed away from its plans. FEMA administrator Cameron Hamilton acknowledged the reductions posed "challenges" to disaster readiness.