The Trump administration appears likely to prevail on a procedural matter in a legal battle over an order revoking collective bargaining rights for workers at nearly a dozen federal agencies, including EPA and the Energy and Interior departments.
During a Monday hearing, federal judges in Washington zeroed in on whether unions’ challenge against the directive belonged not before a federal court but instead before a quasi-judicial body that handles disputes between federal agencies and employees.
The move would eliminate relief the unions temporarily secured earlier this year from a federal district court against President Donald Trump’s order.
If the Federal Labor Relations Authority reaches a conclusion unfavorable to federal workers, unions would still have the option to eventually fight that determination in court, said Judge Neomi Rao, a Trump appointee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, during Monday’s oral arguments.
Paras Shah — an attorney for the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents workers at EPA, Interior, DOE and elsewhere in the federal government — responded that federal courts have a role in deciding “30,000-foot questions” like the collective bargaining rights ban advanced by the Trump administration’s order.
Brad Garcia, a Biden appointee to the D.C. Circuit, asked whether unions have in prior cases disputed the validity of an executive order before the FLRA.
“This scenario stands alone,” said Shah, noting the “extreme facts” of the situation.
Trump’s March order cited “national security” concerns as the administration’s reasoning for excluding agencies from future unionization efforts.
Senior Judge Paul Friedman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled in April to block Trump’s directive, suggesting the administration’s move appeared to target unions that have fought the president’s agenda. The order from Friedman, a Clinton pick, required agencies to resume union dues collection and other normal business relations.
The administration appealed to the D.C. Circuit, where a different panel of judges in May reversed the lower court injunction, finding unions had not demonstrated irreparable harm and indicating the Trump administration was likely to succeed on the merits.
One judge — J. Michelle Childs, appointed to the D.C. Circuit by former President Joe Biden — dissented, writing that it was the government’s burden to demonstrate harm from Friedman’s order.
Senior Judge Douglas Ginsburg, a Reagan appointee, also presided over Monday’s oral argument at the D.C. Circuit.
Trump’s effort to end federal workers’ collective bargaining rights has also faced pushback on Capitol Hill. Twenty Republicans last week joined Democrats to pass a bill that would roll back Trump’s union ban orders, but the legislation faces steep odds in the Senate.
