Overview
- Judge Susan Illston granted partial summary judgment on Friday, finding the Department of Homeland Security unlawfully took control of FEMA’s personnel decisions and pushed a plan to cut the agency’s workforce by about half.
- The record shows DHS steered FEMA to reduce roughly 23,000 employees to near 11,383–11,500, a target the judge said "appears as if pulled from thin air," and that then‑FEMA senior official Karen Evans tasked staff to develop a 50% reduction.
- The court found officials used auto‑delete settings on the Signal messaging app to remove communications and ruled that the deleted messages will be presumed unfavorable to the government under spoliation principles.
- Illston left specific relief for a separate remedies phase, ordered the parties to meet and confer, and required a joint report by October 9 with additional briefing to follow next month.
- Plaintiffs and the opinion cite a post‑Katrina law that limits DHS’s power to strip FEMA functions, and unions say the cuts would have weakened disaster response by eliminating experienced on‑call reservists and CORE staff, so the remedies ruling could directly affect FEMA readiness and contract renewals.