A federal judge has blocked a Trump administration order that sought to eliminate collective bargaining rights for federal government employees, calling the move an attack on unions and their constitutional rights.
U.S. District Judge James Donato issued the ruling on June 24, halting enforcement of President Donald Trump’s executive order that allowed 21 federal agencies to bypass union negotiations. Donato said the order “expressed a clear point of view that is hostile to federal labor unions and their First Amendment activities.”
He emphasized that federal employees have a legal right to unionize and bargain collectively, and that Trump’s directive attempted to upend a “long-standing status quo.” Donato also noted that several labor unions “appear to have been deemed hostile to the president,” further raising constitutional concerns.
The ruling blocks the order from being enforced while a lawsuit challenging it proceeds through the courts. A trial date has not yet been set.
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), joined by other federal employee unions, filed the lawsuit in April after Trump signed the order in March. The White House claimed the move was necessary to curb unions that “obstruct agency management,” citing the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978.
A memo from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) instructed agencies to terminate their collective bargaining agreements, framing the move as a reform aimed at increasing agency efficiency. However, the executive order also exempted agencies involved in intelligence, counterintelligence, or national security operations—though most of the affected workers had no role in those fields.
AFGE National President Everett Kelley praised the judge’s decision:
“President Trump revoked our members’ union rights in retaliation for our advocacy on behalf of federal workers and the American people,” Kelley said. “We are grateful that Judge Donato saw through his disingenuous ‘national security’ justification and ordered the immediate restoration of their rights.”
David Holway, president of the National Association of Government Employees, called the ruling a “resounding rejection of the Trump administration’s authoritarian tactics.”
For now, the judge’s decision restores union protections for tens of thousands of federal workers—pending the outcome of the full trial.
