Judge temporarily blocks Trump order ending collective bargaining rights for most federal workers

A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked an executive order from President Donald Trump that would cancel collective bargaining rights for most federal workers. 

U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman blocked the Trump administration from implementing the order following a lawsuit from the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents about 160,000 federal employees.

The union claims in the lawsuit that the order would violate federal workers’ labor rights and is unconstitutional, adding that it would lose two-thirds of its membership and half of its dues if they order is allowed to go through. 

The order exempted more than a dozen agencies from the requirement to bargain with unions, including the departments of Justice, State, Defense, Treasury, Veterans Affairs, and Health and Human Services departments.

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It affects around 75% of the nearly one million federal workers represented by unions and expands an existing rule that exempts national security agencies like the FBI and CIA from collective bargaining requirements.

The U.S. Treasury Department also filed a lawsuit against the NTEU following the order to invalidate a collective bargaining agreement involving IRS employees. 

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The order is part of the administration’s efforts to lessen the size of the federal government, by making it easier to discipline and fire workers and change working conditions. 

The temporary injunction will remain in place pending the outcome of the NTEU lawsuit. 

Friedman said he would issue an opinion explaining his ruling in the next few days.

He also gave attorneys on both sides a week to propose how the lawsuit should move forward. 

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Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment. 

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.