Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump's Executive Order on Union Rights

A federal judge has temporarily blocked an executive order from President Donald Trump that aimed to cancel collective bargaining rights for most federal workers.

U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman issued the temporary injunction following a lawsuit filed by the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), which represents approximately 160,000 federal employees. The NTEU argued that the order would not only violate federal workers’ labor rights but also be unconstitutional. Should the order be implemented, the union fears losing two-thirds of its membership and half of its dues. The Trump administration’s executive order exempted over a dozen agencies from the requirement to negotiate with unions, including key departments such as Justice, State, Defense, Treasury, Veterans Affairs, and Health and Human Services.

This ruling impacts about 75% of the nearly one million federal workers represented by unions and expands an existing exemption from collective bargaining requirements for national security agencies like the FBI and CIA. In a related development, the U.S. Treasury Department filed its own lawsuit against the NTEU, seeking to invalidate a collective bargaining agreement involving IRS employees. The executive order is part of broader efforts by the Trump administration to reduce the size of the federal government, facilitating easier processes to discipline and fire workers and alter working conditions.

Judge Friedman’s temporary injunction will remain in effect while the NTEU’s lawsuit progresses. He plans to issue a detailed opinion explaining his ruling in the coming days and has given both sides a week to suggest how the lawsuit should proceed. The White House has yet to comment on the ruling, with Fox News Digital reaching out for a statement. The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.