AFGE and other plaintiffs want to stop FEMA from resuming layoffs that began in early 2026, but were temporarily paused due to last month’s major winter storm.
A group of unions and nonprofits is seeking an emergency court order to stop the Federal Emergency Management Agency from restarting staff layoffs.
Lawyers for the American Federation of Government Employees and other plaintiffs requested a preliminary injunction today to prohibit FEMA from continuing cuts that had started in early 2026, but were temporarily paused due to a damaging winter storm that swept through the United States in late January.
The latest court action comes after AFGE and the other plaintiffs in the case first challenged the FEMA cuts in court late last month as part of a broader lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s governmentwide workforce cuts. AFGE argues the FEMA cuts violate the law and inhibit the ability of the agency to respond to disasters.
Today’s proposed injunction would prevent FEMA from making further cuts to its Cadre of On-Call Disaster Response/Recovery (CORE) staff. FEMA had been issuing non-renewals to CORE staff with expiring contracts prior to the pause.
The Associated Press reported this week that FEMA would resume the cuts “soon,” citing two anonymous FEMA managers.
Court filings show attorneys for AFGE had sought clarification from Justice Department representatives about FEMA’s plans to resume the CORE cuts. After initially asking for more time to run down the information, a DoJ attorney responded that they would not be able to provide further information by Monday night.
“Although the Department of Homeland Security briefly paused these actions during last week’s winter storms, the plaintiffs believe the agency intends to imminently resume the cuts,” AFGE wrote in a press release today. “Plaintiffs’ emergency request seeks not only to halt any new reductions, but also to undo all unlawful workforce cuts carried out since Jan. 1.”
CORE staff have traditionally been renewed for two- or four-year terms. But declarations in court by multiple FEMA staff confirm that the agency under the Trump administration began limiting new CORE renewals to just 180 days starting last year.
Then in January, FEMA began issuing non-renewals to CORE staff whose contracts were expiring. Multiple sources and court filings confirm CORE staff with expiring contracts were cut despite supervisors submitting justification packages to have their contracts extended.
The CORE staff cuts come as internal emails show FEMA officials, as part of a December workforce exercise, analyzed what it would look like to slash up to 50% of the agency’s staff in fiscal 2026, including 41% of CORE positions.
Copyright
© 2026 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
