Federal Employee Unions Prepare to Fight Sweeping Reclassification Orders
Within less than a week of taking office, President Trump has taken a wrecking ball to key areas of the federal government, sparking outrage and fear among public sector unions and career civil servants.
Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which represents 800,000 federal and D.C. government workers, said the union’s members are deeply concerned about those Executive Orders. “This unprecedented assertion of executive power will create an army of sycophants beholden only to Donald Trump, not the Constitution or the American people,” said Kelley. “Every American has a stake in ensuring that federal employees remain free to carry out the mission of the agencies that employ them without fear of political interference.”
RECLASSIFICATION THREAT TO HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF WORKERS
The most alarming development is Trump’s executive order aimed at reclassifying federal workers, making it easier to fire them without cause. This order undermines the long-standing protections that allow federal employees to serve the public free from political interference.
The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), representing 150,000 federal workers across 37 agencies, has filed a lawsuit against the administration to block the order. The union argues that the order unjustly imposes rules meant for political appointees onto career civil servants, threatening the impartiality and stability of government operations.
The United States’ 2.2 million federal employees are primarily career public servants, hired based on merit to ensure continuity and nonpartisan service across administrations. Civil service rules, which have been a cornerstone of good governance for decades, ensure these employees cannot be dismissed without just cause. Trump’s order seeks to strip these protections by creating a new classification, “Schedule Policy/Career,” which would reclassify potentially hundreds of thousands of workers and expose them to at-will termination.
“This is an egregious attempt to politicize the federal workforce,” said Don Moynihan, a professor at the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. He warned that the order is so broad that nearly everyone involved in any aspect of policymaking—essentially most federal employees—could be affected.
The concept is not new. At the end of Trump’s first term, he issued a similar directive, known as Schedule F, which President Biden rescinded on his first day in office in 2021. At the time, Schedule F was estimated to place at least 50,000 federal workers at risk of losing their jobs. Experts believe the new order could have an even greater impact, affecting hundreds of thousands of public servants.
UNIONS FIGHT BACK
Unions representing federal workers are rallying to protect their members and the institutions they serve. Public sector unions have long been a bulwark against the politicization of government, and they are now on the front lines, fighting to preserve a civil service system that puts the public interest above political loyalty.
AFGE members are gathering in Washington, D.C. next month for the union’s annual legislative conference and will meet with members of Congress to discuss the Trump administration’s policies and pieces of legislation targeting federal employees.
“This is not just an attack on federal workers,” said Kelley. “It’s an attack on the American people, who rely on a stable and impartial government to serve their needs.”
The union lawsuits and mobilization efforts highlight the critical role labor unions play in safeguarding workers’ rights and ensuring government accountability. As the battle intensifies, federal employees and their unions remain united, determined to protect the civil service from this unprecedented power grab.
Through the use of emerging engagement technologies, union leaders have the ability to connect with their members directly to help protect these federal workers and their families. Tools like UnionTrack ENGAGE help connect and engage your members when messaging counts now more than ever.
