Federal unions applaud ruling on three Trump executive orders

WASHINGTON — A federal judge dealt a blow Saturday to President Donald Trump’s efforts to “promote more efficient” government, ruling that key provisions of three recent executive orders “undermine federal employees’ right to bargain collectively” under federal law.

U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson said Trump had “exceeded his authority” in issuing the orders.

The White House had no comment and referred questions to the Justice Department, which said it was reviewing the judge’s ruling and considering options. Federal worker unions that had sued to block Trump’s use of his executive authority in this area applauded the outcome.

“President Trump’s illegal action was a direct assault on the legal rights and protections that Congress specifically guaranteed to the public-sector employees across this country who keep our federal government running every single day,” said J. David Cox Sr., national president of the American Federation of Government Employees.

Cox’s organization, which represents about 700,000 of the approximately 2 million-member federal workforce, was first to challenge the executive orders, filing two lawsuits.

The executive orders, issued by the White House in May, covered collective bargaining rights, grievance procedures and use of “official time.”

Andrew Bremberg, the president’s domestic policy adviser, said at the time that the orders would “promote more efficient government” by overhauling civil service rules to make it easier to remove poor-performing employees and ensure that taxpayer dollars are used more efficiently.

Departments and agencies were directed to engage in tougher negotiations over collective bargaining agreements and to conclude talks in under a year to limit the expense of “drawnout bargaining.” The unions argued that the executive orders were illegal because federal law requires the government and federal employee unions to negotiate over such changes.