Overzealous union-busting
Federal employee labor law is not exactly my jam. Perhaps I know enough to be dangerous. Nevertheless, it only took a small amount of time to see the clear error and overreach present in President Trump’s recent executive order that basically cancels collective bargaining across a huge swath of the government. Like with many Trump Administration efforts, there are things it can do, things it could possibly do, and things that make my head want to explode.
Under the law cited by the executive order, agencies or agency subdivisions do not need to negotiate with employee unions “if the President determines that—
(A) the agency or subdivision has as a primary function intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security work, and
(B) the provisions of this chapter cannot be applied to that agency or subdivision in a manner consistent with national security requirements and considerations.
(Emphasis added).
The administration is grossly misinterpreting the term “primary function.” The principal function of the Environmental Protection Agency, General Services Administration, and Federal Communications Commission is not intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security work. I’d guess that 99% of the secret Signal exchanges among employees at these agencies have nothing to do with them.
The White House’s “fact sheet” justifies the exclusions with tenuous connections to national security:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: “COVID-19 and the recent bird flu have demonstrated how foreign pandemics affect national security.” [Alas, COVID-19 exists again!]
International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce: “President Trump has demonstrated how trade policy is a national security tool.”
Environmental Protection Agency: “energy insecurity threatens national security.”
Veterans Affairs: “VA serves as the backstop healthcare provider for wounded troops in wartime” and “VA is also a backstop healthcare provider during national emergencies, and served this role during COVID-19.”
National Science Foundation: “NSF-funded research supports military and cybersecurity breakthroughs.”
Treasury Department: “The Treasury Department collects the taxes that fund the government and ensures the stable operations of the financial system.”
General Services Administration: “GSA provides cybersecurity related services to agencies and ensures they do not use compromised telecommunications products.”
A notable exclusion from the executive order’s coverage is Customs and Border Protection workers represented by the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC), which endorsed Donald Trump for President.
It’s hard to tell if there’s bad faith, high school-ish research, or EO-by-AI going on here. Maybe it’s all three. The executive order attempts to justify these conclusions by citing a 1980 FLRA case called Oak Ridge in support of the president’s conclusion that these agencies’ work directly relate to national security. I know nothing about whether Oak Ridge is still good law, but I can tell that Oak Ridge interpreted a different labor statute. The statute interpreted by Oak Ridge relates to which individuals cannot be in a bargaining units, not which entire agencies or subdivisions cannot have a bargaining unit.