The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is not going down without a fight. They, along with other unions representing federal labor, have sued the Trump administration. Given the backdrop of threatened federal employee layoffs as talks of a new government shutdown loom, the recently filed lawsuit is all the more alarming. These unions worry the administration is just waiting for a chance to use the crisis to further shrink the federal workforce.
The lawsuit stems from threats by the Trump administration to fire workers during the shutdown. Russell Vought, the White House Budget Director, has been another key player in these discussions and has made his weight felt. He was instrumental in the development of the Project 2025 playbook. This strategy seeks to create a massive downsize of the federal workforce.
The Project 2025 playbook prescribes blanket cuts with up to 90% in some agencies, sounding the klaxon in the federal workforce. Unions argue that using a government shutdown as a pretext for layoffs undermines job security and threatens essential services provided by federal workers.
Everett Kelley, the national president of the FBGE, said that there were many reasons to condemn the administration’s actions in the strongest possible terms.
“It is disgraceful that the Trump administration has used the government shutdown as an excuse to illegally fire thousands of workers who provide critical services to communities across the country.” – Everett Kelley
This lawsuit, indeed, has potentially massive implications. Its intent is to safeguard federal employees against, as unions have called them, illegal terminations during the funding flap. The unions are fighting these actions pre-emptively in court. They don’t want to kill jobs or hamper the ability of federal workers to get the job done for the taxpayers they serve.
Negotiations for T-HUD appropriations are still ongoing. The result of this lawsuit could establish an important legal precedent for handling federal employment during future shutdowns. The unions that are party to the case hope to shield their members—public sector employees already hired—from their suit. They seek to make the workplace of all federal workers more stable, secure, and free from harassment.
