US court blocks Trump administration plan to cut disaster agency workforce
US President Donald Trump has said he would like to abolish the agency.
A United States federal judge has ruled the Trump administration acted unlawfully by ordering job cuts at the federal agency in charge of responding to the country’s natural disasters.
On Friday, US District Judge Susan Illston in California said the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), exceeded its authority when it ordered personnel changes that effectively stripped the emergency agency of control over its own workforce.
The ruling centres on thousands of temporary FEMA reservists who are called upon to help communities after hurricanes, wildfires, floods and other disasters.
After Hurricane Katrina battered parts of the US Gulf Coast in 2005, the US Congress strengthened FEMA’s independence. US federal law says DHS cannot substantially or significantly reduce the agency’s authority, responsibilities or functions.