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Donald Trump wants to end union rights he says could “interfere” with America’s national security interests. On Thursday night, the president signed an executive order aimed at preventing groups of employees who deal with national security from collective bargaining. The move comes as federal unions have been challenging the administration’s widespread firings of government workers.
“President Trump is taking action to ensure that agencies vital to national security can execute their missions without delay and protect the American people,” the White House said in a statement, adding: “Protecting America’s national security is a core constitutional duty, and President Trump refuses to let union obstruction interfere with his efforts to protect Americans and our national interests.”
The executive order takes a broad interpretation of “national security,” affecting workers at the Department of Defense, the Department of Justice, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Treasury Department, the Department Homeland Security, the Department of Health and Human Services, among other agencies. Trump is taking aim at workers who deal with national defense, refugee resettlement, trade policy, border security, foreign relations, energy security, pandemic response, and other issues.
The White House said that police and firefighters will not be affected.
The American Federation of Government Employees — the largest federal workers union, representing more than 800,000 employees — slammed the move, noting in a statement that the order could affect hundreds of thousands of workers.
“President Trump’s latest executive order is a disgraceful and retaliatory attack on the rights of hundreds of thousands of patriotic American civil servants — nearly one-third of whom are veterans — simply because they are members of a union that stands up to his harmful policies,” wrote AFGE National President Everett Kelley.
“AFGE is preparing immediate legal action and will fight relentlessly to protect our rights, our members, and all working Americans from these unprecedented attacks,” Kelley added.
Unions have taken an active role challenging the Trump administration’s dismantling of the federal government. AFGE scored a win earlier this month over the firings of thousands of probationary employees at six agencies, including some targeted by Trump’s order on Thursday. A judge in California said the employees had to be reinstated, determining the terminations were based on a “lie” that they were performance based.
Earlier this week, a federal judge ruled that unions representing federal employees are allowed to sue over extensive firings of probationary workers, going against preliminary rulings saying they could not.
The White House has not looked favorably upon the legal action union’s have taken against the administration. “Certain Federal unions have declared war on President Trump’s agenda,” it said in its statement on Thursday.
In January, Trump issued a memo rejecting collective bargaining agreements that were made in the 30 days leading up to his presidency. The Department of Homeland Security said in early March that it would end collective bargaining for TSA agents.
Trump repeatedly claimed to support American workers during his 2024 campaign. “I want a future that protects American labor, not foreign labor,” he said at a rally in September.
