The Federal Emergency Management Agency is reversing job cuts that Kristi Noem, the former homeland security secretary, had overseen before she was fired last month.
FEMA has reinstated 14 people who had signed a public letter that became known as the Katrina Declaration, which warned that the agency risked repeating mistakes learned during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, said Abby McIlraith, one of the reinstated workers and an emergency management specialist. Another 21 people who signed their namesare no longer at the agency, Ms. McIlraith said.
The agency has also begun calling disaster workers who were let go in January to offer them their jobs back, according to two people familiar with the actions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the move publicly. The agency parted ways with some 200 workers who served in temporary roles when their assignments came up for renewal in January. It was a major departure from past practices, and prompted unions to file a lawsuit against the agency, arguing that the dismissals violated FEMA’s statutory requirement to maintain readiness for disasters.
The agency is taking steps to “stabilize” its work force ahead of hurricane season, which begins in June, and the World Cup, with soccer matches to be held across the United States, Canada and Mexico in June and July, said Victoria L. Barton, a FEMA spokeswoman.
“Under new leadership, FEMA is addressing outstanding personnel actions to ensure work force stability and a strong, deployable surge force for upcoming national events and potential disasters,” Ms. Barton said in an email.
Markwayne Mullin, the former Republican senator from Oklahoma, took over as homeland security secretary in late March. FEMA is part of the Homeland Security Department.
FEMA had about 18,500 people in its incident management work force as of Thursday, according to a daily briefing on its operations, which is nearly 2,000 fewer than it had at the end of last year.
At the same time, a federal judge is placing increasing pressure on FEMA to release documents and communications among senior leaders about their decisions to cut staffing. Judge Susan Illston of U.S. District Court for the District of Northern California on Thursday ordered FEMA to immediately search the personal cellphone of Joseph Guy, a former top aide to Ms. Noem, before he leaves federal employment on Thursday.
Judge Illston, who was nominated to the bench by President Bill Clinton, also recently ordered depositions of Mr. Guy and Kara Voorhies, a former FEMA contractor and aide to Ms. Noem whose actions are being scrutinized as part of an inspector general’s investigation into how the Homeland Security Department handled contracts under Ms. Noem and her senior adviser Corey Lewandowski.
Documents released as evidence in that court case show that Karen Evans, the acting FEMA administrator, was taking cues from Ms. Voorhies on agency operations and personnel decisions.
FEMA officials did not respond to questions about how its decisions to reverse the dismissals could affect that litigation, in which the plaintiffs are seeking the reinstatement of those workers.
Ms. McIlraith said that getting her job back after being fired for signing the protest letter is a vindication. But she said that the agency “is arguably in a worse state than it was back in August when I signed the Katrina Declaration.”
“A hiring freeze is still in effect, FEMA still has no legally qualified administrator, money isn’t getting to states that need it, we have wildfire and hurricane seasons coming up, and as a result the public is in severe danger,” Ms. McIlraith said.
Scott Dance is a Times reporter who covers how climate change and extreme weather are transforming society.
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