Senators sponsor bill to restore federal employee collective bargaining agreements

By

Ballotpedia staff

Highlights from this edition of Checks and Balances include a Senate bill to restore federal employee collective bargaining agreements, and the official opening of Texas’ government efficiency office

In Washington

Forty-eight senators sponsor bill to restore federal employee collective bargaining agreements

What’s the story?

Forty-eight  senators introduced a bill on September 17, 2025, to nullify a March 2025 executive order from President Donald Trump (R) ordering more than 21 federal agencies and their subagencies to terminate collective bargaining agreements with their employees. The executive order cited a provision of the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act allowing the president to terminate the contracts in the interest of national security. Trump issued a second executive order on Aug. 28 ordering the termination of union contracts at 12 additional agencies, also stating that it was necessary to protect national security. The executive orders are part of a broader Trump administration effort to reduce the federal workforce.

The bill —S.2837— would terminate both the March and August executive orders. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) sponsored the bill, and its co-sponsors include every member of the Senate Democratic Caucus and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R). In April, seven Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives joined 216 Democratic representatives to sponsor a bill to nullify the March executive order.

What do federal employee unions do?

Federal employee unions engage in collective bargaining and grievance procedures on behalf of their members. Federal employee unions are governed by the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (FSLMRS) enacted as part of the Civil Service Reform Act. The Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) administers federal labor relations, including federal unions.  

Once the FLRA certifies a union as an exclusive representative of federal employees, the union can require agencies to deduct dues from employees’ paychecks, to be present during any grievance or arbitration proceedings, and to force agencies to bargain over employment terms and conditions, among other authorities. Employee collective bargaining agreements can take precedence over federal rules or regulations if the agreement was in place before the directive is issued.

Federal employee unions must be free from what the FSLMRS calls corrupt influences and influences opposed to basic democratic principles. The statute defines this as:

  • People affiliated with communist or other totalitarian movements and persons identified with corrupt influences
  • People with business or financial interests on the part of organization officers and agents which conflict with their duty to the organization and its members

Labor organizations must adhere to what the law calls financial integrity measure, such as issuing financial reports or summaries to members.

Several presidents, including Bill Clinton (D) and George W. Bush (R), have excluded agencies from being covered by FSLMRS, exempting employees from the statutory right to union representation or collective bargaining within the federal system. 

Status of federal employee unions contracts after the executive orders

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California Judge James Donato temporarily blocked enforcement of the March executive order on June 24 after the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), with other labor organizations, sued. The Trump administration requested a stay of the injunction, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted it on Aug. 1.

After the Aug. 1 decision, agencies named in the March executive order began terminating union contracts for most bargaining unit employees. The following agencies, among others, had terminated union contracts as of Oct. 9:

  • The Department of Veterans Affairs, excluding police officers, firefighters, and security guards.
  • Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
  • Department of Health and Human Services
  • Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
  • Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 
  • Bureau of Prisons (BOP)
  • U.S. Coast Guard
  • General Services Administration (GSA)

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals announced on Aug. 25 that a judge on the court called for a vote to determine whether this case should be reheard en banc. If an en banc rehearing is granted, it would vacate the previous panel judgment and opinion and revisit the decision to place an injunction on the orders.

The Aug. 28 executive order directed more agencies to terminate their employee collective bargaining agreements. The directive applied to the following agencies, among others:

  • the International Trade Administration (ITA) and the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), both within the Commerce Department
  • the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM)
  • the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
  • the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

What are the arguments?

A White House Fact Sheet about the March executive order said, “The [Civil Service Reform Act] enables hostile Federal unions to obstruct agency management. This is dangerous in agencies with national security responsibilities.”  It also said, “Certain Federal unions have declared war on President Trump’s agenda… and President Trump refuses to let union obstruction interfere with his efforts to protect Americans and our national interests.”

U.S. Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Chief William Marshall said that unions were responsible for the BOP’s low performance in the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey. “When a union becomes an obstacle to progress instead of a partner in it, it’s time for change.”

The plaintiffs before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which included the AFL-CIO and other labor organizations, said that the order was a form of retaliation against those unions that have participated in lawsuits opposing Trump’s policies or initiatives. 

Regarding Warner’s bill, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D) said, “Trump wants to strip them of these rights so he can continue to gut the federal workforce and easily replace them with political cronies who will do his bidding without regard for the law. This bipartisan bill will stop this lawless union-busting power grab—and protect the integrity of our federal workforce and the services they provide.”

What’s next?

The bill is in the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs as of Sept. 17. Litigation is ongoing in several lawsuits filed against both executive orders and the termination of union contracts in several agencies. 

Want to learn more?

In the states

Texas government efficiency office officially opened

On Oct. 2, Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott (R) announced the official opening of the Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office (TREO), a state-level government efficiency organization with responsibilities focused on state rulemaking. Abbott appointed Jerome Greener, formerly an executive vice president at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, as TREO’s first director.

TREO grew out of Senate Bill 14, which Gov. Abbott signed into law on April 23. The Texas Senate approved the bill 26-5 (six Democrats and 19 Republicans supporting; four Democrats and one Republican opposed) and the House approved it 97-51 (13 Democrats and 84 Republicans supporting; 49 Democrats and two Republicans opposed). Texas has a Republican trifecta.

According to the text of SB 14, TREO’s responsibilities include identifying “unnecessary and ineffective rules” for repeal, for identifying opportunities to increase the efficiency of the agency rulemaking process, and for creating a public website and publicly accessible manuals on legal requirements for rulemaking. TREO may create a Texas Regulatory Efficiency Advisory Panel within the governor’s office to provide the governor’s office and other agencies with advisory expertise on efficient rulemaking. The bill also amended existing state law to require that new regulations be written in plain language, and barred state courts from deferring to agency interpretations of statute, instead requiring a de novo standard of review.

State-level DOGEs

Gov. Abbott compared TREO to the federal-level Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Service. At least 26 states created similar organizations in 2025. Some highlights include:

  • North Carolina created a Division of Accountability, Value, and Efficiency (DAVE) within the Office of the State Auditor, with a mandate to advise the state legislature on roles and agencies that could be terminated. Unlike the federal-level DOGE, DAVE is not empowered to terminate personnel or agencies directly. DAVE itself will expire on December 31, 2028.
  • Delaware created an executive-branch Office of Inspector General, with a mandate to find fraud, waste and abuse within state government. The office will be led by an Inspector General nominated by the governor and confirmed by the state senate.
  • Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) created the Florida Department of Government Efficiency within the Executive Office of the Governor Office of Policy and Budget by executive order. Florida’s DOGE has a mandate to review public expenditures and make recommendations to the legislature.
  • Kentucky, North Dakota, and Montana established legislative task forces on government efficiency, with mandates to advise their respective legislatures on strategies for increasing state government efficiency.

Government efficiency bills in the states

Ballotpedia has tracked 70 state bills related to government efficiency in 2025. As of Oct. 7, 11 of these bills were enacted, including Texas’ SB 14. Of these 11 bills:

  • one was enacted in a state with a Democratic trifecta
  • two were enacted in states with divided government 
  • eight (including SB 14) were enacted in states with a Republican trifecta.

Texas enacted three other efficiency bills in 2025: 

  • HB 117 established a Governor’s Task Force on the Governance of Early Childhood Education and Care with duties that included examining the efficiency of several childcare-related agencies.
  • HB 12 established a legislative Sunset Advisory Commission to monitor the efficiency of agency operations.
  • HB 149 established a Texas Artificial Intelligence Council to make recommendations on agency use of artificial intelligence to improve efficiency. 

Two other states created executive-branch efficiency organizations like TREO: 

  • North Carolina’s H 125 established a Division of Accountability, Value, and Efficiency (DAVE) to assess agency spending and efficiency.
  • Delaware’s SB 4 established an Office of the Inspector General to increase government transparency and prevent fraud and waste.

Three states established legislative-branch efficiency organizations similar to Texas’ Sunset Advisory Commission:

  • Kentucky’s SR 240 established a Kentucky Discipline of Government Efficiency (KY DOGE) Task Force, with a mandate to report efficiency-improving strategies to the Legislature.
  • North Dakota’s HB 1442 established a Legislative Task Force on Government Efficiency, with a mandate to identify and report on areas of state government deemed unnecessary or duplicative and ways to increase efficiency.
  • Montana’s HB 834 established a Government Evidence and Impact Commission with a mandate to recommend efficiency improvements in state government operations.

Montana also enacted two other efficiency-related bills in 2025:

  • HB 863 required the existing Office of Budget and Program Planning to study strategies to ensure most efficient and effective delivery of government services.
  • HR 3, a resolution that urged the Montana Congressional delegation to work to “protect the personally identifiable information of Montanans from the Department of Government Efficiency.”

Want to learn more?

Featured commentary

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Regulatory highlight

Congressional Review Act

The Congressional Review Act (CRA) allows Congress to repeal rules with joint resolutions of disapproval. The 119th Congress had 60 working legislative days from the 15th day of the session (a window that ended in early May) to introduce resolutions to disapprove of regulations the Biden administration issued after Aug. 16, 2024.

  • Members of the 119th Congress have introduced 107 CRA resolutions in the 119th Congress to repeal regulations, mostly from the Biden administration, but including some issued under the second Trump administration. Twenty-three (23) resolutions have passed one congressional chamber, 18 have passed both chambers, and as of Oct. 14, 16 were signed into law.
  • In his two terms, Trump (R) has signed 32 of the 36 total CRA resolutions ever adopted. President George W. Bush (R) signed one in 2001, and President Joe Biden (D) signed three in 2021.

Notable regulation

  • The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) completed its review of a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services rule rescinding a 2012 restriction on states’ consideration of immigration status to determine state residency for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) eligibility. The agency withdrew the rule during the OIRA review process.

Pick of the news

Federal

Court rules termination of probationary employees was unlawful. A federal district court judge has ruled that the Office of Personnel Management acted unlawfully when it directed federal agencies to terminate probationary employees by citing poor performance earlier this year. Government Executive

Senate confirms Trump pick for Fed seat. The Senate confirmed Stephen Miran, chair of the Council of Economic Advisors, to a Federal Reserve governorship by a vote of 48-47, with one Republican, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, voting against him. Miran has gone on unpaid leave from his Council position, but says he does not intend to resign. He replaces former Fed Governor Adriana Kugler, who resigned in August. CNN

Supreme Court ruling allows pocket rescission. In an unsigned emergency order, the Supreme Court removed a lower-court stay on President Trump’s use of pocket rescission to withhold foreign aid funds. Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented. ABC News

Judge rules dismissal of inspectors general was unlawful. A U.S. district court judge ruled that President Trump’s dismissal of eight agency inspectors general earlier this year was unlawful. The judge refrained from ordering them reinstated, and said that the president could easily submit a 30-day notice to Congress to dismiss them again. Washington Post

White House defunds inspector general group. The Office of Management and Budget has cut off funding for the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, the umbrella organization for 72 federal inspectors general. New York Times

State

Wisconsin Gov. sues Legislature over agency rulemaking. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) has sued the state Legislature in an ongoing dispute over legislative review of agency rulemaking, alleging that the Legislature is ignoring a July state Supreme Court ruling that limited its power to review rules. Wisconsin Public Radio

Legislative Tracking Update

Since our last newsletter edition, Ballotpedia tracked significant legislative action (enactments, vetoes, and passage through both chambers) in four states on 30 bills related to the administrative state. Four states (CA, DE, MI, NC) enacted or adopted 24 bills; one state (CA) passed two bills in both chambers; California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) vetoed two bills and North Carolina Governor Josh Stein (D) vetoed

Ballotpedia has tracked a total of 2,272 bills related to the administrative state in 2025 as of Oct. 14.