WASHINGTON (AP) — An appeals court has cleared the way for President Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at ending collective bargaining rights for hundreds of thousands of federal employees while a lawsuit plays out.
The Friday ruling came after the Trump administration asked for an emergency pause on a judge’s order blocking enforcement at roughly three dozen agencies and departments.
A split three-judge panel in the nation’s capital sided with government lawyers in a lawsuit filed by unions representing federal employees.
The law requiring collective bargaining creates exemptions for work related to national security, as in agencies like the FBI.
That’s according to the National Treasury Employees Union, which is suing to block the order.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s executive order to suspend hundreds of thousands of federal employees’ collective bargaining rights while a lawsuit is pending has been approved by an appeals court.
The decision on Friday followed the Trump administration’s request for an urgent halt to a judge’s order that was preventing enforcement at about thirty departments and agencies.
In a case brought by unions representing federal employees, a three-judge panel in the nation’s capital decided in favor of government attorneys. According to the majority’s technical ruling, the unions lack the legal right to sue because the Trump administration has stated that it will not terminate any collective bargaining agreements during the litigation.
George H. Bush, a Republican, appointed Judge Karen Henderson. W. While Judge Michelle Childs, who was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden, dissented, Bush and Justin Walker, who were appointed by Trump, supported the government.
In order to ensure robust national security, the government claims that Trump needs the executive order to reduce the federal workforce. Work pertaining to national security, such as that done by the FBI, is exempt from the law requiring collective bargaining.
According to union leaders, the order is intended to enable mass terminations and exact “political vengeance” on federal unions that oppose Trump’s plans to drastically reduce the size of the federal government.
The goal of his order is to broaden that exemption to include more workers than any previous president. According to the National Treasury Employees Union, which is suing to stop the order, that is the case.
The National Treasury Employees Union represents a large number of Internal Revenue Service employees, and the administration has filed a lawsuit in Kentucky to end the agency’s collective bargaining agreement. They claim that their IRS employees aren’t working on national security projects.
The order also applies to the Federal Communications Commission, the Energy Department, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Health and Human Services Department.
