The Trump administration’s plan to gut the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) would weaken the nation’s ability to protect American lives and property during natural disasters and other emergencies and slow the recovery process, according to AFSCME members who are part of a lawsuit challenging the cuts.
“The administration’s attacks on the workers who provide life-saving services during disasters are shameful and put lives across the country at risk,” said AFSCME President Lee Saunders. “When homes flood, hurricanes and tornadoes devastate communities, or wildfires burn through neighborhoods, FEMA employees show up to help families through the worst days of their lives. Dismantling this workforce will lead to slower response times and preventable loss of life, and further strain emergency response as state and local workers, including AFSCME members, lose this critical support.”
Saunders also said AFSCME members are fighting back.
“We will not stand by while the administration recklessly dismantles this essential workforce,” he added.
In the complaint filed in federal court in California, AFSCME and a coalition of other unions, local governments, and nonprofit organizations say the attempt to slash FEMA staffing levels ignores the will of Congress to adequately fund the agency responsible for protecting people and property in disasters and other emergency situations. The coalition has asked the judge for an emergency order to block the cuts, and a hearing has been scheduled for March 3.
AFSCME members who work for state and local emergency response agencies worry that the federal cuts would harm their ability to serve their communities. Without adequate staffing at FEMA, critical grant programs are delayed. This not only strains local and state budgets, creating uncertainty and job insecurity, but it stalls the critical disaster preparedness and recovery that AFSCME members carry out every day.
“What is most concerning to me about the cuts to FEMA, however, is how it will impact our ability to carry out (the Oregon Department of Emergency Management’s) mission that I and my fellow bargaining unit members care so much about,” said Lilli Lessey, president of AFSCME Local 3241, which represents employees at the Oregon Department of Emergency Management (OEM).
Lessey is a public assistance program representative at OEM and her declaration was submitted to the judge in support of the motion to block the cuts.
“We took these jobs because we wanted to help make Oregon communities safer and more resilient,” Lessey also said. “We know that Congress has allocated resources exactly for this purpose. Further cuts to FEMA means that we can’t do the essential work of ensuring that this funding reaches communities in need.”
Plaintiffs in the case include AFGE, AFSCME, SEIU, the City and County of San Francisco, Calif.; Santa Clara County, Calif.; the City of Chicago, Ill.; the City of Baltimore, Md.; Harris County, Texas; and King County, Wash., and nonprofit organizations.
The FEMA case is part of an April 2025 lawsuit challenging the overall downsizing of the federal government without congressional authority.
Victims of natural disasters already face huge economic challenges to replace or repair their homes and belongings, and state and local governments likewise take on tremendous costs to restore damaged infrastructure and public facilities that residents rely on. A smaller, weaker FEMA makes that process even harder.
AFSCME members around the country are committed to protecting lives and property, and our union will fight for them to have the resources and strong federal partner they need to get the job done.
No billionaire tax cut is worth the damage that these cuts to FEMA would cause to working families and our communities.