Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, HOUSE NEWS—Members introduce bipartisan bill to nullify executive order, restore federal workers’ collective bargaining rights, (Apr 2, 2025)

By Brandi O. Brown, J.D.

“In his order, President Trump said that federal workers’ rights are incompatible with national security. He is wrong.”

A bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives that would nullify President Trump’s executive order, issued on March 27, 2025, and entitled “Exclusions from Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs,” in which Trump amended a 1979 Executive Order that contained certain exclusions, to add more exclusions and end collective bargaining with federal unions at many additional federal departments and agencies. The White House also issued a fact sheet on the EO.

Bipartisan effort. The “Protect America’s Workforce Act ” was introduced by Reps. Jared Golden (D-Maine) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and co-sponsored by Reps. Donald Norcross (D-N.J.), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.), Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), and Mike Turner (R-Ohio). The bipartisan legislation would, according to a press release, reverse the Executive Order, which targeted employees in the Departments of Defense, State, Veterans Affairs, Justice, and Energy, as well as certain employees in the Departments of Homeland Security, Treasury, Health and Human Services, Interior, and Agriculture, in total impacting “roughly 67% of the federal workforce, according to independent reports.”

“In his order, President Trump said that federal workers’ rights are incompatible with national security. He is wrong. Union workers make America stronger every single day, including more than 6,000 federal workers in Maine,” said Rep. Golden. “Throughout our history, unions have ensured workers got their fair share of this nation’s prosperity. Unions built our middle class, and are key to strengthening its future. We cannot have a government that undermines workers’ rights.”

“Improving government efficiency is essential—but sweeping exclusions from collective bargaining are a blunt instrument that risk weakening the very stability and performance we aim to strengthen. The Protect America’s Workforce Act restores a balanced, targeted approach—protecting bargaining rights where they pose no threat to national security and reinforcing their proven role in supporting morale, accountability, and effective governance. We can defend our national security without silencing those who serve it. Efficiency and fairness are not mutually exclusive—and this legislation ensures we uphold both,” said Rep. Fitzpatrick.

Supported by many. The “Protect America’s Workforce Act” has the support of numerous unions representing federal employees, the co-sponsors note, including the AFL-CIO, AFGE, AFSCME, NTEU, SEIU, among several others. According to the sponsors, it “reaffirms a core principle: a government that serves the people must also respect the rights of those who serve within it.”

“Donald Trump is trying to end collective bargaining for hundreds of thousands of federal workers, silencing their voices and ripping up their contracts. This order would strike a blow to every American’s fundamental right of freedom of speech and association," said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. "More than 70 percent of Americans and nearly 9 in 10 young people support unions—no one voted to attack the freedom to organize with our co-workers for a better life. We commend the leadership of Reps. Jared Golden and Brian Fitzpatrick for using Congress’ power to reverse this executive order. The labor movement is 100 percent behind this bill and we call on every member of Congress, Democrat and Republican, to take a stand in support of our fundamental rights by backing this critical legislation.”

AFGE commended the representatives for “standing up for federal workers and their fundamental union rights.” They also thanked Rep. Fitzpatrick for spearheading a letter signed by several Republican congressmembers, which called on Trump to reverse his decision.

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