Authored by Troy Myers via The Epoch Times,
A federal judge ruled on Friday that a former FEMA chief financial officer was illegally fired by the Trump administration over what it claimed were millions spent by the agency on luxury hotels for illegal immigrants in New York City.
Mary Comans’s termination in February 2025 amidd allegations of misused funds had been amplified by then-head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Elon Musk and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Biden-appointed District Judge Michael Nachmanoff decided she is entitled to a name-clearing hearing over the issue.
Nachmanoff, of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, ordered that lawyers for Comans and the Trump administration confer and within 14 days submit a joint proposal outlining a process for the hearing.
The judge indicated that discovery and a full evidentiary hearing before a federal magistrate judge would be appropriate to address previous statements made by Musk, the Trump administration, and Comans’s allegations of her politically motivated termination without due process.
Lawyers from the progressive nonprofit Democracy Defenders Fund and four other firms who represent Comans called Nachmanoff’s ruling a “landmark” win in a statement.
“Mary Comans is a career public servant who had the courage to challenge the Trump regime’s unlawful termination,” attorney Craig Becker of Democracy Defenders Fund said. “Today’s decision is a resounding victory for the rule of law and our vital civil service. It sends a clear message that no administration is above the law, no public servant should be punished for doing their job with integrity, and no president can erase decades of civil service protections.”
Comans and her attorneys argued she was fired without due process, in violation of the Constitution, depriving her of both property and liberty.
They alleged that her notice of termination stated no official reason and was also in violation of the Civil Service Reform Act, which provides protection for federal employees.
“This is a reminder that our federal courts remain an essential check on executive abuse of power, and we will continue our fight to remedy the full scope of the harm that the president has done to our civil service,” Becker said.
President Donald Trump has fired many government employees during his second term in office. The administration has said Trump’s constitutional ability to fire federal workers cannot be constrained.
In Comans’s firing, the Trump administration said it was allowed to terminate her employment with FEMA under Article II of the Constitution, which endows a president with executive power.
DHS accused Comans and three other FEMA officials of authorizing a $59 million payment to fund housing for illegal immigrants in luxury hotels in New York City.
Homeland Security said the former CFO and others circumvented “leadership to unilaterally make egregious payments.”
The nearly $60 million payment was uncovered by DOGE.
“That money is meant for American disaster relief and instead is being spent on high-end hotels for illegals!” Musk wrote on X at the time.
The Supreme Court ruled last month on the president’s firing power. It could play a role in the upcoming hearing between Comans and the Trump administration.
The justices on June 29 both expanded and limited Trump’s ability to fire heads of federal agencies.
One case before the high court was a victory for Trump, with the justices allowing him to fire a member of the Federal Trade Commission. But in another case, the Supreme Court blocked the president’s firing of a Federal Reserve board member, sending the issue back to lower courts.
FEMA is an agency within Homeland Security, which falls under the executive branch of the federal government.
Neither the Department of Justice, FEMA, nor DHS responded to requests for comment before publication.