Harris County is seeking a temporary restraining order against the federal government to halt the dismantlement of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to new court filings.
The filing — part of a lawsuit filed in the Northern District of California with other government agencies last year — seeks an order that would restrict the Department of Homeland Security’s ability to direct sweeping layoffs in the emergency management agency.
The order, filed in court Tuesday, comes after the Trump administration issued a directive requiring federal agencies to implement workforce reduction plans, according to the Harris County Attorney’s Office. The Washington Post first reported on a plan to cut about 50 percent of the emergency management agency’s workforce this year.
The lawsuit, first filed by the American Federation of Government Employees and labor rights organizations against U.S. President Donald Trump last year, claims widespread layoffs are happening so “dramatically and abruptly” that public facilities can no longer run efficiently. Threats of sweeping federal layoffs — like those at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — would directly affect Harris County’s operations and its reliance on services needed to inform emergency preparation, planning and response, according to the lawsuit.
Local leaders and government officials have raised concerns in the past year about the agency’s ability to respond to disasters amid layoffs. In a statement Wednesday, Harris County Attorney Jonathan Fombonne said that the federal layoffs affect the county’s finances and its own ability to respond to local disasters.
“When disasters strike, FEMA provides the personnel, expertise and resources that local governments rely on to protect lives and rebuild,” Fombonne said. “Gutting the agency puts communities like ours at serious risk.”
In a series of other statements on Wednesday, Harris County commissioners Lesley Briones, Rodney Ellis and Adrian Garcia supported efforts to halt mass layoffs at the agency.
Though previous court orders temporarily blocked widespread federal layoffs, those protections are expiring, and terminations already began at the end of last year. More than 10,000 FEMA positions are expected to be eliminated in the coming months, according to the county attorney’s office.
“Dismantling FEMA risks the health and safety of millions of people along the Gulf Coast, especially in the face of devastating hurricanes, winter storms, and other extreme weather events,” Ellis said in a statement. “I’m proud that Harris County is standing up to an out-of-control White House whose misguided mass layoffs will harm workers and endanger our entire community.”
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