Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, WHITE HOUSE NEWS—Executive Order ends collective bargaining with unions at federal agencies with security missions, (Mar 28, 2025)

By Cathleen Calhoun, J.D.

Thousands of federal employees may be affected by the Executive Order since many federal agencies will no longer be required to collectively bargain with federal unions.

In the latest Executive Order (EO) affecting federal workers, President Trump has outlawed collective bargaining with federal unions at many federal departments and agencies, specifically those with national security missions. In the March 27 EO Exclusions from Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs, Trump amended a 1979 Executive Order that contained certain exclusions, to add a list of “Additional Exclusions.” The agencies and subdivisions encompassed within the March 27 EO are no longer required to collectively bargain with federal unions. The White House also issued a fact sheet on the EO.

Guidance document. A detailed guidance document on the EO has been issued by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management that states, “…because the statutory authority underlying the original recognition of the relevant unions no longer applies, unions lose their status as the ‘exclusive[ly] recogni[zed]’ labor organizations for employees of the agencies and agency subdivisions covered by Exclusions.” Information on performance accountability, reductions in force (RIF), performance improvement periods, return to office, and other policies impacting workers is also outlined in the guidance.

Departments. The new exclusions from Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute and the Foreign Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (individually and collectively, the FSLMRS) under the EO include the Departments of State, Defense (with some exceptions), Treasury (except the Bureau of Engraving and Printing), Veteran’s Affairs, and Justice (except certain components of the U.S. Marshals Service).

Other subdivisions, agencies, and commissions. Also included in the EO are specifically listed agencies or subdivisions within: HHS, the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Homeland Security, Department of the Interior, Department of Energy (except the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission), and the Department of Agriculture. The EO also provides lists of other specific agencies, commissions and subdivisions of federal departments: the International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce, EPA, the United States Agency for International Development, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the National Science Foundation, the United States International Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, and the General Services Administration. Finally, also listed in the EO are agencies or subdivisions of each Executive department appearing in section 101 of title 5, United States Code, the Social Security Administration, and the Office of Personnel Management: (a) Office of the Chief Information Officer; and (b) any other agency or subdivision that has information resources management duties as the agency or subdivision’s primary duty.

Reaction. The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), a large federal employee union, represents over 820,000 workers in nearly every agency of the federal and D.C. governments. AFGE’s President Everett Kelley issued a statement condemning the EO and promising legal action: “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…AFGE is preparing immediate legal action and will fight relentlessly to protect our rights, our members, and all working Americans from these unprecedented attacks.”

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