US court blocks Trump administration plan to cut disaster agency workforce

What the report says

A US federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration acted unlawfully when it moved to cut staff at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the disaster-response body overseen by the Department of Homeland Security. The decision, reported by Al Jazeera and Reuters, came on Friday in California from US District Judge Susan Illston. It focuses on changes to FEMA’s workforce, especially the status of thousands of temporary reservists who are called in after hurricanes, wildfires, floods and other major emergencies.

According to the report, labor groups representing federal employees sued after the administration stopped renewing many of those contracts. Judge Illston said DHS went beyond its authority and did not offer a sufficient explanation for limiting FEMA’s ability to renew the jobs. She also noted that FEMA was projecting a much smaller workforce for the coming fiscal year, but the record did not clearly justify that reduction.

The case matters because FEMA’s role has been politically sensitive for years, and federal law limits DHS from substantially reducing the agency’s authority or functions. That independence was strengthened after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The article says the ruling does not yet force the administration to restore the jobs or impose penalties; those issues are expected to be addressed in a later decision next month. Trump has previously said he would like to abolish FEMA and has argued that states should take on more disaster-preparedness responsibility.