Overview
- U.S. District Judge Susan Illston on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, granted partial summary judgment finding the Department of Homeland Security unlawfully usurped FEMA's authority over personnel.
- The court found DHS steered FEMA toward a staffing target of about 11,383 employees for fiscal 2026, a figure the judge said "appears as if pulled from thin air."
- Records show FEMA senior official Karen Evans instructed staff to develop a plan to cut the workforce by 50 percent and the judge said those internal steps lacked reasoned decision making.
- Illston found officials used Signal with auto‑delete timers to erase messages, concluded the deletions impeded plaintiffs' discovery, and will presume the missing texts would have been unfavorable to the government.
- The ruling stops short of ordering remedies or penalties and sets a briefing and meet‑and‑confer schedule for a separate remedies decision next month, with plaintiffs seeking to rescind non‑renewal notices for CORE reservists who handle on‑the‑ground disaster response.