A federal judge has ruled that senior officials in the Trump administration disseminated false information to justify the termination of a high-ranking Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) official in 2025. U.S. District Judge William Fitzpatrick, presiding in Virginia, found that the allegations used to fire Mary Comans, FEMA's chief financial officer, were unfounded and constituted “outrageous government conduct.”

Comans was dismissed on February 11, 2025, based on claims that she had authorized millions of dollars in expenditures for hotel accommodations for undocumented immigrants. The spending, reportedly involving $59 million at hotels described as “luxury” accommodations in New York City, was publicly criticized as disobeying President Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at reducing government bureaucracy and cutting agency budgets.

However, the court’s findings contradict these claims. Judge Fitzpatrick determined the approvals for these expenses came from officials other than Comans, and that key figures involved in the campaign to remove her knowingly spread misleading information. Among those implicated were Elon Musk, who served as a presidential adviser and led the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and Kristi Noem, former Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Musk had publicly accused FEMA of “gross insubordination” in a social media post on February 10, 2025, stating that DOGE had uncovered the unauthorized expenditures. DHS subsequently announced the termination of four employees the following day, including Comans.

The case arose amid a broader push at the start of President Trump’s second term to downsize federal agencies and eliminate thousands of positions, overseen in part by Musk through DOGE. Legal challenges followed the dismissals, alleging that certain firings were politically motivated and lacked proper justification.

The court’s ruling highlights tensions between administrative reforms and due process in federal agency management, underscoring the potential consequences of disseminating inaccurate information in personnel decisions. Neither Musk nor Noem issued immediate public responses to the ruling.