In a blow toward his administration, a liberal judge has halted President Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at streamlining bloated federal agencies by curbing the power of labor unions.
Judge James Donato’s ruling blocked Trump’s efforts to make government more efficient by ending collective bargaining for federal workers at 21 agencies.
This judicial activism contradicts a recent decision by the DC Circuit Court, which supported a similar Trump order.
The preliminary injunction follows a lawsuit filed by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and other left-leaning federal employee unions, which challenge President Trump’s executive order.
Judge Donato, a Barack Obama appointee serving in the notoriously liberal Northern District of California, ruled that Trump’s order to eliminate union bargaining was “likely unlawful.”
President Trump’s executive order aimed to eliminate bureaucratic roadblocks created by union contracts that prevent government agencies from operating efficiently.
The White House argued that the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 permits such actions, especially when national security is at stake.
Moreover, the decision prevents crucial reforms at 21 federal agencies.
These included the Department of Defense, the State Department, and the Environmental Protection Agency, where union rules have long hindered effective operations and led to wasteful government spending.
AFGE National President Everett Kelley said:
“President Trump revoked our members’ union rights in retaliation for our advocacy on behalf of Federal workers and the American people, and we are grateful that Judge Donato saw through his disingenuous ‘national security’ justification and has ordered the immediate restoration of their rights.”
What union leaders fail to mention is that their organizations have consistently protected underperforming employees and opposed reforms that would make government more accountable to the American people.
The White House correctly noted that the current system “enables hostile Federal unions to obstruct agency management” – a reality taxpayers have witnessed for decades.
Most troubling is Judge Donato’s claim that federal unions were targeted because they “appear to have been deemed hostile to the President.”
This rhetoric exposes the judge’s political bias against common-sense reforms aimed at making government more efficient and responsive to hardworking American taxpayers.
This ruling contrasts with a recent decision by the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, which lifted a similar block on Trump’s executive order affecting the National Treasury Employees Union.
The conflicting rulings demonstrate the inconsistent application of the law, which varies depending on the circuit handling the case, with the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit predictably ruling against Trump’s reforms.
The Trump administration will likely appeal this ruling to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Meanwhile, American taxpayers continue footing the bill for an oversized federal workforce protected by unions that consistently resist accountability measures.
The judge’s decision to preserve the bureaucratic status quo undermines efforts to drain the swamp and create a government that works for the people rather than entrenched special interests.
