A Trump-appointed judge on Wednesday dealt a blow to the White House’s bid to kick out labor unions from an array of federal agencies.
Judge Alan Albright of the Western District of Texas said that the Trump administration lacks the legal standing necessary to pursue the case it filed against the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest labor union representing federal workers.
The lawsuit was a preemptive strike against AFGE and other public-sector unions, seeking to nullify collective bargaining agreements that interfered with White House goals. It was submitted shortly after President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March stripping hundreds of thousands of government workers of unionization rights by vastly expanding the use of a national security exemption in federal labor law to cover agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency and Agriculture Department.
In the complaint, eight of the agencies claimed that the Biden administration entered into “midnight” deals with labor unions aimed at hamstringing its successor. They asked the court for an affirmative blessing in order to invalidate the collective bargaining agreements — a request that Albright said was something the court “should not and could not do.”
“This Court is unable to identify a single instance in which a federal court has exercised jurisdiction over agencies seeking a pre-enforcement declaratory judgment approving their desired future course of conduct,” Albright wrote in a 27-page ruling Wednesday.
He said that doing so would risk opening a “Pandora’s Box” in which the executive branch would begin to routinely go to court to greenlight its executive orders.
Albright also noted that a different federal judge in Kentucky came to the same conclusion on standing back in May.
Nevertheless, he wrote that the administration offered “compelling arguments” supporting Trump’s determination that these agencies are primarily engaged in national security work and, therefore, can be exempted from unionization.
The White House and AFGE did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In the aftermath of Trump’s executive order, agencies worked to stop deducting union dues from workers’ paychecks — a critical blow to AFGE’s and other groups’ ability to fund their operations. Unions have moved to set up alternative collections mechanisms but have said in court papers that the administration’s decision will cost them millions of dollars.
Unions have filed lawsuits of their own in multiple courthouses across the country.
Several district court judges have ruled against the White House, casting doubt on the sincerity of Trump’s national security justification. Lawyers for the affected unions cited a White House fact sheet and other evidence that the executive order was actually intended as a retaliatory measure against labor groups for challenging the president’s policies.
However, a D.C. appellate court in May lifted a lower-court block against the Trump administration and signaled that the president should have considerable leeway when it comes to national security implications. An appeals court in California likewise appeared reticent to overrule Trump’s determination in a hearing earlier this month.
