In a significant legal development concerning the US federal workforce, two unions representing government employees have initiated a lawsuit against the Trump administration’s recent executive actions related to federal workforce classifications. Specifically, this legal challenge, filed by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), aims at countering an executive order that reintroduces the controversial Schedule F classification. The unions contend that up to 50,000 federal workers could be reclassified as “Schedule Career/Policy” employees, a move which could undermine their job security and union protections by making them at-will employees.
The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, bolstered by legal expertise from Democracy Forward, a nonprofit organization that focuses on legal challenges against anti-democratic movements. The legal argument asserts that the executive order contravenes the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) by sidestepping the crucial procedures obligatory for rescinding federal rules, such as the notice-and-comment period.
This executive order seeks to roll back protections afforded during the Biden administration, notably those by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which had imposed rules ensuring civil service protections and establishing limits on reclassifications to the excepted service. The OPM under Biden aimed to solidify protections to prevent politicization of policymaking positions within the federal workforce.
Furthermore, the unions are urging the court to retain the Biden-era safeguards, which would obstruct implementation of the Schedule F classification until any changes align with APA mandates. Notably, this lawsuit emerges as a response to broader efforts by Trump’s administration to reduce the federal workforce, including offering voluntary resignation offers to over two million federal employees, a move criticized by AFGE’s President Everett Kelley. Kelley characterized the strategy as creating an adverse work environment aimed at nudging federal employees out.
For detailed information on the lawsuit and its implications, readers can consult the original reporting from JURIST.