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The Friday ruling came after the Trump administration asked for
an emergency pause on a judge's order blocking enforcement at
roughly three dozen agencies and departments.
A split three-judge panel in the nation's capital sided with
government lawyers in a lawsuit filed by unions representing
federal employees. The majority ruled on technical grounds,
finding that the unions don't have the legal right to sue
because the Trump administration has said it won't end any
collective bargaining agreements while the case is being
litigated.
Judge Karen Henderson, appointed by Republican President George
H.W. Bush, and Justin Walker, appointed by Trump, sided with the
government, while Judge Michelle Childs, appointed by Democratic
President Joe Biden, dissented.
The government says Trump needs the executive order so his
administration can cut the federal workforce to ensure strong
national security. The law requiring collective bargaining
creates exemptions for work related to national security, as in
agencies like the FBI.
Union leaders argue the order is designed to facilitate mass
firings and exact “political vengeance” against federal unions
opposed to Trump's efforts to dramatically downsize the federal
government.
His order seeks to expand that exemption to exclude more workers
than any other president has before. That's according to the
National Treasury Employees Union, which is suing to block the
order.
The administration has filed in a Kentucky court to terminate
the collective bargaining agreement for the Internal Revenue
Service, where many workers are represented by the National
Treasury Employees Union. They say their IRS members aren't
doing national security work.
Other union employees affected by the order include the Health
and Human Services Department, the Energy Department, the
Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Communications
Commission.
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