Judge blocks Trump order that removes union rights from federal workers
A federal judge has temporarily blocked an executive order from President Donald Trump that would cancel collective bargaining rights for most federal workers. U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman halted the implementation of the order after a lawsuit was filed by the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents approximately 160,000 federal employees.
The union argued that the order would violate federal workers’ labor rights and is unconstitutional. They claimed that they would lose a significant portion of their membership and dues if the order were allowed to go into effect. The order exempted several agencies from the requirement to bargain with unions, including the departments of Justice, State, Defense, Treasury, Veterans Affairs, and Health and Human Services.
This executive order impacts around 75% of the nearly one million federal workers represented by unions and expands an existing rule that exempts national security agencies such as the FBI and CIA from collective bargaining requirements. Additionally, the U.S. Treasury Department filed a lawsuit against the NTEU to invalidate a collective bargaining agreement involving IRS employees.
The administration’s goal with this order is to reduce the size of the federal government by making it easier to discipline and terminate workers and change working conditions. The temporary injunction issued by Judge Friedman will remain in place until the outcome of the NTEU lawsuit is determined. He has promised to provide a detailed explanation of his ruling in the coming days and has given both parties a week to propose how the lawsuit should proceed.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment on this matter. The Associated Press and Reuters have contributed to this report.
It is clear that this executive order has significant implications for federal workers and their rights to collective bargaining. The legal battle surrounding this issue is ongoing, and it remains to be seen how it will ultimately be resolved.
