Comments

You have commented 375 times on Rantburg.

Your Name

Your e-mail (optional)

Website (optional)

	My Original Nic Pic-a-Nic Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Foto

Submit your comments on this article

Government Corruption

The Real Problem In Government - Under the Radar Sabotage - Government Employees Fight Trump's Reforms From Within the Executive Branch

2026-09-09

[DailySignal] Who ultimately decides how the executive branch works? Is it the president, elected by the American people, or career federal employees and the unions that represent them?

The American Federation of Government Employees, the largest union representing federal employees, sued the White House’s Office of Personnel Management last month, aiming to block new rules governing how federal employees are evaluated, disciplined, and removed.

The lawsuit represents only the latest in a long series of legal challenges the union has brought against President Donald Trump’s administration since January 2025. According to a July roundup AFGE posted on its website, the union had filed 18 lawsuits against the administration before the latest case.

These lawsuits have targeted a wide range of administration initiatives, including government-wide reorganizations, workforce reductions, collective bargaining restrictions, employee classification reforms, and changes to federal personnel rules.

AFGE has been far from alone in these cases. Democracy Forward,

…Democrat Party-affiliated group launched in 2017 to fight President Trump with lawfare. The Marc Elias-led group brags that it took Trump to court more than 100 times in his first term in office...

a left-leaning legal advocacy organization that has represented plaintiffs in numerous lawsuits challenging Trump policies, has represented AFGE or other plaintiffs in these cases. Such challenges have involved broad coalitions, including advocacy groups and local governments, alongside labor unions.

Critics argue that these cases amount to more than traditional labor litigation, representing a form of institutional resistance from federal employees and their allies against an elected administration’s effort to reshape the executive branch.

AFGE rejects that characterization. A union spokesman told The Daily Signal that issues involving “politicization of government, corruption, and the refusal to recognize legally valid union contracts” are inseparable from “the everyday experience of federal workers.” The spokesman also accused the administration of engaging in “illegal and retaliatory union-busting” and broader efforts to “rig the system.”

Unions such as AFGE have every right to represent the interests of their members, but these cases concern questions extending beyond wages, benefits, or traditional workplace conditions. They challenge the administration’s attempts to reorganize agencies, alter personnel systems, and change how the bureaucracy operates.

Michael Watson, research director for the Capital Research Center, told the Daily Signal that “it should not be surprising that the professional Left and the AFGE are working hand-in-glove,” given the ideological bent of the labor movement.

He said AFGE’s moves amount to “the representative organ of the federal civil service attempting to enact its own policy preferences through litigation.” He also noted, however, that the Trump administration “is attempting to weaken the power of unions like AFGE to carry out their own policy preferences against the policies laid out by the people’s elected representatives and the executive officers who have been chosen to carry out the laws made by Congress.”

Four cases illustrate the nature of this litigation.

Details at the link.

1. The DOGE Lawsuit
In April 2025, AFGE led a large coalition in suing to block Trump’s Executive Order 14210, which established the Department of Government Efficiency and aimed to reduce the federal workforce to increase efficiency in the executive branch.

2. A National Security Decision
In April 2025, AFGE sued to block Trump’s Executive Order 14251, which exempted certain agencies from collective bargaining rules due to their “primary function” of “intelligence, countertintelligence, investigative, or national security work.”

3. Schedule Policy/Career
In January 2025, AFGE, AFSCME, AFL-CIO, and other unions led by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, sued to block Trump’s Executive Order 14171, which created a new category for federal workers called “Schedule Policy/Career.”

4. Performance Standards
This summer, the Office of Personnel Management finalized two rules regarding how federal employees are evaluated and can be removed.

Posted by:NoMoreBS

#5 comments); ?>werwer

Posted by: Procopiu2k 2026-09-09 11:13

#4 comments); ?>werwer

Posted by: Super Hose 2026-09-09 10:00

#3 comments); ?>werwer

Posted by: Seeking Cure For Ignorance 2026-09-09 09:36

#2 comments); ?>werwer

Posted by: Besoeker 2026-09-09 07:45

#1 comments); ?>werwer

Posted by: Ebbith Thud5430 2026-09-09 07:37

00:00