News

AVOIDING GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

Both the House and the U.S. Senate passed a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the federal government open and fully funded through December 11. The bill maintains current operational funding levels while pushing the legislative deadline past the upcoming elections, providing necessary stability for civilian federal employees and union members.  All Members need to be prepared for the possibility of a December Shutdown.

LAWSUIT CHALLENGE HAS BEEN FILED

More than 20 union affiliates from AFGE and the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE-IAM) sued the Department of Defense and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth,  challenging the unlawful termination of union contracts covering tens of thousands of DoD civilian employees.

Motion for Preliminary Injunction (Filed July 20, 2026): Plaintiffs formally filed an emergency motion requesting a preliminary injunction. The motion is still being reviewed and asks Judge Gallagher to halt implementation of the April 9 memo and compel the DoD to restore the revoked CBAs while the lawsuit proceeds.

In the lawsuit, the unions argue that Hegseth’s actions violated the Administrative Procedure Act in multiple ways. In particular, the memo and the contract terminations that followed were not based on reasoned decision making required by law and misinterpreted the executive order they were purportedly based on.  Here is the Article on AFGE National.

NFFE and AFGE Affiliates Due Defense Department over Illegal Termination of Employee’s Union Rights.  “For decades, workers at the Department of Defense have had the right to unionize, and employees exercising that right has never been detrimental to U.S. national security,” said NFFE National President Randy Erwin. “The Trump administration unilaterally and illegally stripping collective bargaining rights from DoD workers only serves to weaken morale, harm recruitment and retention, and reduce accountability – jeopardizing our national security and the critical mission of the agency.”

Unions sue DoD over termination of collective bargaining agreements.  President Trump’s executive order last year eliminated the collective bargaining rights for over 1.5 million federal employees, including a large swath of DoD civilian employees. It was single-handedly the hottest and most aggressive anti-union action taken by a president in U.S. history,” Rep. Sarah Elfreth (D-Md.) said.