Federal unions ask court to halt FEMA position cuts

Michael Macagnone, CQ-Roll Call on Jan 28, 2026

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WASHINGTON — Federal worker unions have asked a judge to halt Trump administration actions that they say includes plans to cut 10,000 positions from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The new allegations, filed Tuesday, add onto an ongoing lawsuit filed by unions last April, which sought to undo widespread government layoffs spurred by the Department of Government Efficiency in the early days of the administration.

Tuesday’s filing of a supplemental complaint alleged the Trump administration intends to cut thousands of federal workers this year across other agencies as well.

“The limited information that has been made public confirms that while injunctive relief prevented many agencies from engaging in unlawful workforce reductions during 2025, some of those agencies are poised to carry out further unlawful workforce reduction plans in 2026,” the complaint said.

The new complaint focused on planned cuts to FEMA, arguing that would violate congressional mandates to keep the agency ready to respond to disasters.

“Rather than comply with these statutory mandates, Defendants’ plan to shrink FEMA (and thereby push disaster relief and recovery to state and local governments) risks the type of catastrophic tragedy that Congress sought to ensure would never again happen in this country,” the complaint said.

The Trump administration has directed agencies to cut staff and programs “regardless of Congress’s assessment of necessity or authorization or funding of those programs,” the complaint said.

Most of FEMA’s more than 20,000 employees are hired under the Stafford Act, which is the emergency fund created by Congress outside the normal appropriations process, according to the complaint. Those employees are hired for fixed terms outside of the normal civil service process, but the complaint said those terms are normally renewed.

Department of Homeland Security officials, to enact planned reductions, overrode FEMA’s recommendation to renew those employees’ terms, the complaint alleged. That would effectively cut the agency by 10,000 federal workers over the next few months as the temporary workers’ terms expire.

The complaint alleged the administration violated federal law with the cuts to the agency, and by taking the decision to cut employees out of the hands of FEMA officials.

Trump has called for the dismantling of FEMA in favor of a system that would deliver funding for disaster relief directly to the states. The president also cited political bias in responses to disasters and spending funds on undocumented immigrants.

Last month, a meeting for a Trump administration council tasked with recommending changes to FEMA was abruptly canceled on the day it was set to issue its final report.

A copy of the report said the council would resist the idea of completely scrapping the agency, and key recommendations included cutting the workforce by half and rolling back a new block grant system designed to cut red tape to deliver aid more quickly to communities affected by disaster, according to media accounts at the time.

Funding for DHS has become a flash point in the last week, after federal agents fatally shot two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis during an immigration crackdown. Federal officials, without evidence, accused the victims of planning attacks on federal agents, and the incidents have prompted bipartisan pushback on Capitol Hill.

The Senate is now considering a House-passed, six-bill spending package needed to avert another partial government shutdown when stopgap funding runs out Friday night. Senate Democrats have called for DHS funding bill to be removed from that package, setting up a potential partial shutdown as early as this weekend.

The administration has faced numerous lawsuits over its efforts to lay off federal workers, including from federal worker unions and from Democrat-led states. Democratic attorneys general have also sued over unilateral cuts to FEMA and other federal grant programs by the Trump administration.

Federal worker unions brought a separate lawsuit ahead of the government shutdown this past October, alleging the Trump administration sought to engage in unlawful layoffs. The law currently funding the government reversed those layoffs and prevents further reductions.

The complaint did not ask for an immediate ruling.