By Oliver Porter, NLIHC DHR Intern
On January 27, a lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division, over FEMA’s recent proposed staffing cuts. News of the proposed cuts was first reported at the beginning of January. If these cuts are implemented, FEMA could ultimately lose over 10,000 employees, the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit was filed by a group of unions representing the workers, as well as several nonprofits and local governments. The plaintiffs challenge the executive branch’s right to cut FEMA staff without gaining approval from Congress first. The case is being presided over by U.S. District Judge Susan Illston. Judge Illston previously ruled against the government’s widespread federal layoffs last spring, before her ruling was later overturned by the Supreme Court.
The outlook for FEMA CORE personnel and other employees remains unclear because additional staff—beyond the more than 50 employees who were let go in late December—have not been laid off yet, so the certainty and pace of the proposed staffing reductions are unknown.
The legal battle over this additional proposed staffing reduction underscores the importance of removing FEMA from the Department of Homeland Security’s control. FEMA needs autonomy over its operations to ensure it can effectively protect communities in the face of major disasters and guide them through full recovery. To remedy the crisis facing FEMA, Congress must pass the NLIHC-endorsed bipartisan “FEMA Act” to reinstate FEMA as an independent cabinet-level agency.