Trump scores legal win as court allows union rights rollback for federal employees
A federal appeals court lifted an injunction blocking President Trump’s executive order to strip collective bargaining rights from workers at dozens of federal agencies, citing national security concerns.
A federal appeals court on Friday overturned a previous block on President Donald Trump’s executive order aiming to remove collective bargaining rights from federal employees at multiple government agencies.
The order affects about two-thirds of the federal workforce and includes agencies like the Departments of Treasury, Defense, State, Veterans Affairs, and Justice.
Trump’s executive order limiting federal workers’ union rights
In March, Donald Trump issued an executive order stating that several parts of the United States Code, which protected federal workers’ rights to organize and bargain, would no longer apply. Soon after that, the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) filed a lawsuit challenging it.
After being blocked by a federal judge last month, on Friday, May 16th, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit proceeded to lift the blockade, citing that the union had failed to prove it would suffer “irreparable harm” if the order was executed while the lawsuit was pending.
Trump administration pushes union restrictions as legal challenges continue
According to Trump, these federal protection policies were not consistent with national security requirements. The president is allowed to exclude agencies and offices to ensure national security when they have “as a primary function intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security work.”
Other agencies affected are:
- Food and Drug Administration
- Bureau of Land Management
- Federal Communications Commission
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The NTEU is trying to fight with the argument that none of these agencies have anything to do with national security.
