Three Key Takeaways:
- Donald Trump is preparing to strip monopoly bargaining rights from most federal employees, aiming to eliminate the power of federal unions that have been obstructing his agenda and making it easier to remove career bureaucrats who resist his policies.
- The plan includes moving more federal positions under the “Schedule F” category, making it easier to fire employees and limiting their monopoly bargaining rights against the American people, which is expected to significantly reduce union influence in the federal workforce.
- This bold move has led to outrage from union leaders like American Federation of Government Employees President Everett Kelley, but Trump supporters argue that it restores the Constitutional balance of power, ensuring the President’s authority is not undermined by unelected bureaucrats.
Joe Biden spent the last three years staffing the federal bureaucracy with left-wing activists.
Now Donald Trump is preparing to clean house.
And Donald Trump blindsided federal union bosses with one announcement that left them red with rage.
Trump plans to strip monopoly bargaining rights from most federal employees
President Donald Trump is prepared to take dramatic action to rein in the massive federal bureaucracy that’s been working against him since his first term in office.
Trump’s administration is actively moving to strip most federal workers of their union’s monopoly bargaining rights, according to reports from Politico.
Trump moves to strip unionization rights from most federal workers https://t.co/eqinvGcm5q
— POLITICO (@politico) March 28, 2025
The sweeping changes would effectively end unionization for large swaths of the 2.2 million civilian federal workforce, a move that would finally allow Trump to fire career bureaucrats who’ve been undermining his administration and sabotaging his America First agenda.
James Sherk, who served as a Trump adviser during his first term, previously helped draft a 2018 executive order limiting federal union power and has written extensively on federal workforce reform.
In a recent Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy report, Sherk discussed how “federal unions have significantly interfered with Presidential priorities” and how the current interpretations of federal labor law may be vulnerable to Constitutional challenges.
Biden’s bureaucrats have been fighting Trump’s agenda
The federal bureaucracy has become a serious obstacle to implementing the will of the voters.
For years, career bureaucrats protected by union agreements have resisted implementing the policies that Americans voted for.
The answer is a resounding no from the Trump administration, which views federal unions as a major obstacle to implementing the President’s vision for efficient government that serves the American people rather than entrenched bureaucratic interests.
Schedule F makes a comeback with expanded power
Trump’s plan would restructure how numerous federal agencies handle employment relations by classifying more positions under the “confidential, policy-determining, policy-making or policy-advocating” exception that’s already written into federal labor law.
This exceptional category doesn’t get unionization rights under the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act, which governs federal labor practices.
The administration has already revealed its intention to move thousands of career civil servants into a new job category called “Schedule F,” making them easier to fire.
This latest move goes even further by potentially stripping unionization rights from many of those who remain in protected career positions.
Union bosses furious as their power crumbles
Federal employee unions have reacted with predictable outrage to the news, with American Federation of Government Employees President Everett Kelley warning that such moves would “destroy the civil service as we know it.”
But Trump allies point out that the current system protects bureaucrats who actively work to thwart the President’s agenda – a President who was elected by the American people to implement specific policies.
While Democrats claim to worry about “democracy,” they’ve empowered unelected bureaucrats who face zero accountability from voters to make policy decisions affecting millions of Americans.
Trump restores Constitutional balance of power
The irony is that America’s Founding Fathers never envisioned a permanent bureaucratic class of federal employees who could effectively override the will of elected officials.
Under the Constitution, the President is the head of the executive branch, and all executive power flows from his office.
Public sector unions fundamentally undermine this Constitutional arrangement by creating a protected class of government workers who can’t be fired even when they actively resist implementing the elected president’s lawful directives.
Trump’s determination to strip these workers of union protection demonstrates he understands a basic truth – public sector unions shouldn’t exist because the managers of government employees are We The People.
This isn’t a government of, by, and for the bureaucrats.
It’s a government that should answer to the citizens, and Trump’s bold executive order seeks to restore that fundamental balance of power.
Democrat lawmakers and union leaders have vowed to fight these changes through legal challenges and administrative resistance.
But with Trump holding the power of the Presidency and Republicans controlling both Houses of Congress, federal employee unions may find themselves fighting a losing battle.
The American people voted for change when they elected Donald Trump in a landslide, and this move against federal unions signals that real change is finally coming to Washington, D.C..
