Federal unions sue to block FEMA staffing cuts of up to 50% amid rising disasters

The American Federation of Government Employees and allied unions filed suit on January 28, 2026 asking a federal judge to block the Trump administration from cutting more than 10,000 positions at FEMA, representing up to 50% of the agency's 23,000-person workforce. The plaintiffs argued cuts violated congressional mandates requiring the agency to maintain adequate disaster response capacity. FEMA had quietly begun letting CORE worker contracts lapse in January; union attorneys said the administration had misled the public about the scale of the reductions.