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Federal judge ruled DHS unlawfully halved FEMA's workforce, violating post-Katrina law

On September 12, 2026, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston ruled that the Department of Homeland Security, under then-Secretary Kristi Noem, unlawfully revoked FEMA's authority to renew contracts for its Cadre of On-Call Response and Recovery Employees (CORE) -- roughly 40% of FEMA's workforce -- as part of a plan to cut the agency's staff by about half. Illston found DHS acted "arbitrarily and capriciously" and violated a 2006 statute barring the Homeland Security Secretary from substantially reducing FEMA's authorities, responsibilities, or functions. The American Federation of Government Employees brought the suit; Illston ordered the parties to negotiate the scope of relief rather than specifying it herself.

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
Washington, D.C.

Abuses documented

Actors

On September 12, 2026, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston of the Northern District of California ruled that the Department of Homeland Security acted unlawfully when it revoked the Federal Emergency Management Agency's authority to renew contracts for its Cadre of On-Call Response and Recovery Employees (CORE), the disaster-response teams that make up roughly 40% of FEMA's workforce and are typically the first federal responders on the ground after a hurricane or other major disaster. Beginning in 2025 under then-Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, DHS limited CORE contract renewals -- traditionally two-to-four-year terms almost always renewed -- to 180 days at a time, and in January 2026 instructed FEMA to let a number of those contracts lapse and force employees out as their terms expired, part of a broader plan to cut FEMA's overall staff by roughly half, toward a projected staffing level near 11,383 employees.

Illston found DHS "acted arbitrarily and capriciously," writing there was "no evidence in the record reflecting reasoned decision for this about-face." The ruling turned on a 2006 statute, part of the post-Hurricane Katrina reform of FEMA, that bars the Homeland Security Secretary from "substantially or significantly" reducing FEMA's authorities, responsibilities, or functions; Illston held DHS had unlawfully usurped that authority, including by interpreting the administration's January 2025 government-wide hiring freeze -- from which DHS itself was exempt -- to also cover FEMA's CORE contract renewals.

In a related finding, Illston ruled that former acting FEMA Administrator Karen Evans and former DHS deputy chief of staff Joseph Guy violated federal record-keeping law and department policy by using a Signal chat, with messages set to auto-delete, to discuss the staffing plans, and that Evans shortened the auto-delete window after being named a defendant in the case; the court said it would presume the lost messages were unfavorable to DHS in further proceedings. A FEMA spokesperson said the agency is "ensuring workforce stability and a strong, deployable force" for future disasters. The suit was brought by the American Federation of Government Employees and the AFL-CIO; Illston did not order specific relief, instead directing the parties to negotiate its scope, with a conferral deadline of October 9, 2026.

Why we recorded this

Congress created FEMA after Hurricane Katrina and, in 2006, barred the Homeland Security Secretary from substantially or significantly reducing FEMA's authorities, responsibilities, or functions -- a specific statutory check against a future administration hollowing the agency out from within. A federal judge found DHS, under then-Secretary Kristi Noem, violated that statute by revoking FEMA's authority to renew its disaster-response contracts as part of a plan to cut the agency's staff roughly in half, calling the decision "arbitrary and capricious" with no reasoned basis in the record. This archive records when an executive department defies a specific limit Congress wrote to protect a function it deemed essential, eroding the disaster-response capacity that limit was designed to preserve.

Sources

  1. Judge rules Trump administration order to fire FEMA staffers was illegal — CNN primary accessed September 13, 2026
  2. Federal judge rules Trump administration cuts to FEMA broke the law — UPI investigative accessed September 13, 2026
  3. Trump admin 'unlawfully usurped the authority' of FEMA and violated post-Katrina reform law: Court — Law&Crime investigative accessed September 13, 2026

See also