June Federal Government Update

Federal Government Update

The White House has had a busy few months attacking public service workers in the Federal Government and public services across the entire country. But AFSCME has been fighting back against these attacks on every front. AFSCME International Union, councils and locals are litigating 14 lawsuits against the Trump administration. Those lawsuits are focused on protecting the important work that AFSCME members do across the country and protecting AFSCME members in the federal government from the White House’s reckless attacks. 

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Read more about those lawsuits and what they might mean for you below. 

(Reductions in Force) Judge blocks White House’s illegal reorganization of the federal government

A federal judge in San Francisco [last week issued a temporary restraining order to block the administration’s unlawful reorganization of the federal government. The order is the largest and most significant challenge to the president’s authority to remake the government without congressional approval. The case, AFGE v. Trump, argues that the Trump administration’s unlawful reorganization of the federal government, which is already underway without legislative authority, violates the Constitution’s fundamental separation of powers principles.

(Federal Collective Bargaining)AFSCME and allies sue over White House move to bust federal unions

AFSCME and other labor unions are suing the administration over a recent executive order that seeks to strip more than 1 million federal government employees of their collective bargaining rights.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, says the executive order is a retaliatory attempt to punish federal worker unions that have been engaging in constitutionally protected speech. Additionally, the lawsuit alleges that the administration overbroadly applied the national security exemption to eliminate collective bargaining rights for over 1 million workers whose primary functions are not related to national security. Those employees work at agencies and departments like the Department of Veterans Affairs, Environmental Protection Agency, Food Safety and Inspection Service, and several others.

(IMLS, FMCS) Federal court stops closure of agencies that help workers negotiate contracts and fund libraries and museums, Ending federal help for libraries and museums is a bad move. A court stopped the administration from doing that

In a win for public service workers yesterday, a federal district judge in Rhode Island issued a preliminary injunction to stop the closure of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS), which had been ordered to be dismantled by the White House in March. The case was brought by 21 states. The preliminary injunction also halted the closing of a third agency, the Minority Business and Development Agency. 

AFSCME and its allies have been fighting in court to prevent the illegal shuttering by the Trump administration of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The agency supports and funds museums and libraries across the country, home to many of AFSCME’s 45,000 cultural workers. 

In addition to lawsuits to protect federal workers and the important public services you provide, AFSCME is involved in several lawsuits to protect federal funding and important federal services from reckless attacks by the White House and Elon Musk’s DOGE.  

(HHS) Communities and AFSCME Sue to Save Efforts to Stop Trump Cuts, RFK Jr. Anti-Science Meddling

A coalition of major municipalities, including Harris County, Texas; Columbus, Ohio; the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee;  and Kansas City, Missouri, along with public service workers represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) are uniting to challenge unlawful budget cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that will cancel grants the municipalities rely on to protect people from infectious diseases and pandemics.

(Social Security) AFSCME’s fight to protect our Social Security data from Elon Musk posts another win, AFSCME sues to stop unlawful seizure of Social Security data

Our union’s fight to protect our personal, sensitive Social Security data from falling into Elon Musk’s hands notched a significant victory last week. A federal court on Thursday granted a preliminary injunction blocking Musk’s so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) from further accessing data stored within the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) systems. The ruling comes in response to a motion filed by AFSCME, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and the Alliance for Retired Americans, all represented by Democracy Forward.