An attorney representing the Trump administration informed a U.S. District Court Friday evening that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has begun offering new appointments to disaster workers whose contracts the agency did not renew in January, reversing a controversial decision that prompted a coalition of labor unions, scientific groups and local governments to sue the administration.
FEMA has 鈥渋nitiated contact to offer new appointments鈥� to term-limited staff whose contracts expired the first three weeks of January, U.S. Attorney Craig H. Missakian wrote in a notice submitted to the U.S. District Court in San Francisco Friday.
The notice comes after months of uncertainty over the future of FEMA’s term-limited disaster workers, who make up roughly half the agency’s workforce. It follows news earlier this week that FEMA had for eight months for signing a public letter of dissent critiquing policies taken by FEMA and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security.
The actions are the latest indications that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin is moving away from his predecessor Kristi Noem鈥檚 harsher approach toward FEMA, before she was fired as DHS leader. They also raise questions about whether the measures are a response to concerns that the disaster agency might not be prepared for the Atlantic hurricane season and major events like the FIFA World Cup.
FEMA did not immediately respond to questions Friday about the court notice or how many employees received offers to return. On Thursday a spokesperson told The Associated Press that while it does not comment on specific personnel actions, the agency is 鈥渁ddressing outstanding personnel actions to ensure workforce stability and a strong, deployable surge force for upcoming national events and potential disasters.鈥�
FEMA鈥檚 Cadre of On-Call Response/Recovery Employees, or CORE, work on two- to four-year assignments, though they traditionally have been routinely renewed, a system that allows the agency to build up and taper down its capacity as needed. There are about 10,000 COREs. Current and former FEMA staffers told the AP it is not uncommon for employees to work for decades or even retire in the term-limited appointments.
FEMA abruptly stopped renewing some CORE employees鈥� contracts at the start of 2026 as they expired, and extended other appointments by only 90 days at a time. The agency in late January, right before a severe winter storm impacted multiple states. By that time, 159 COREs had not been renewed, according to a sworn by FEMA’s temporary leader, Karen S. Evans.
A coalition led by the American Federation of Government Employees labor union sued the administration over the nonrenewals, alleging they were part of a wider plan to cut FEMA鈥檚 workforce by half and undermined FEMA’s congressional mandate to ensure the nation’s disaster preparedness.
Evans in her declaration denied any plan for 鈥渂lanket鈥� elimination of COREs, and said the nonrenewals 鈥渄o not threaten FEMA’s ability to perform its statutory mandate.鈥�
It is unclear how FEMA’s decision will impact the lawsuit. A statement submitted to the court by plaintiffs’ lawyers Friday evening said they would respond 鈥渁fter proper factual investigation.” Plaintiffs’ lawyers were scheduled to depose former DHS Deputy Chief of Staff Joseph Guy next week in an ongoing discovery effort around the decision-making that led to the CORE dismissals.
A FEMA employee who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media said they knew of at least two COREs who had already been called back.
FEMA officials also announced this week that COREs with contracts ending between January and May who were previously extended for 90 days 鈥渕ay be reappointed for up to one year,鈥� along with those whose contracts end after May, according to an email to staff reviewed by the AP. 鈥淓ligible鈥� FEMA reservists will be renewed for two years, the email said. Around 7,000 reservists in the agency鈥檚 surge workforce have contracts expiring May 2.
鈥淥ur readiness directly impacts our ability to help Americans in need,鈥� the email said, 鈥渁nd every employee plays a critical role in meeting these challenges.鈥�
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