Federal judge rules Trump admin plan to cut FEMA workforce in half is unlawful

A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration's directive for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to cut its workforce in half was unlawful.

What happened

A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration's directive for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to cut its workforce in half was unlawful. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston found on Friday that the Department of Homeland Security acted unlawfully by taking control of FEMA's authority over its own personnel and pushing the agency to slash thousands of disaster-response jobs. Although FEMA is under DHS, a federal law adopted after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 states that the department "may not substantially

Why it matters

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Source context

A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration's directive for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to cut its workforce in half was unlawful. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston found on Friday that the Department of Homeland Security acted unlawfully by taking control of FEMA's authority over its own personnel and pushing the agency to slash thousands of disaster-response jobs. Although FEMA is under DHS, a federal law adopted after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 states that the department "may not substantially or significantly reduce (FEMA's) authorities, responsibilities, or functions." Illston said the department violated the law last year when it sought to stop FEMA from renewing the