Worker Policy Watch
Your source for accurate and reliable information on how federal policies are shaping workers’ rights—and what’s at stake for working people nationwide under the Trump administration.
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The U.S. State Department is Firing More Than 1,300 Employees by Email
Our nation's diplomatic corps are being gutted.
Impact:
More than 1,300 public servants and their families are now threatened with income loss and economic insecurity until they can find new jobs.
U.S. Supreme Court Allows Trump’s Mass Firings of Federal Public Servants to Proceed
The Supreme Court has rejected a lower court’s order to block the Trump administration from mass firings and reorganizing of federal agencies without approval from Congress.
Impact:
The Supreme Court’s decision could pave the way for more firings of workers, as some agencies announce they will resume plans for mass layoffs in light of the ruling. The planned mass firings could impact tens of thousands of workers from the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Health and Human Services, State, Treasury, Veterans Affairs, and more than a dozen other agencies.
Federal Judge Halts Likely Unlawful Mass Layoffs at HHS
U.S. District Judge Melissa DuBose granted a preliminary injunction and ruled that mass layoffs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HSS) are likely unlawful.
Impact:
This order blocks the Trump administration from finalizing layoffs announced in March or issuing further firings. The ruling applies to workers in four different parts of HHS: the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the Center for Tobacco Products within the Food and Drug Administration; the Office of Head Start within the Administration for Children and Families; and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.
Federal Judge Blocks Trump Admin Rollback of Collective Bargaining Rights for Federal Workers
U.S. District Judge James Donato in San Francisco is temporarily blocking Trump’s executive order that barred workers in 21 federal agencies from exercising their collective bargaining rights.
Impact:
In March, the Trump administration issued an executive order barring about one million federal workers from being represented by unions—by claiming collective bargaining agreements “violated national security.” Judge Donato cited plausible retaliation concerns from unions who are challenging the Trump administration’s federal workforce policies in court. Civilian federal workers have had collective bargaining rights for more than 60 years.
Departments of Justice and Interior Lose Thousands of Staff to Buyout Offers
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Department of the Interior are set to lose thousands of employees through buyout incentives and voluntary early retirement programs since the Trump-Musk DOGE program began. DOJ is set to lose some 4,500 employees. Roughly 11 percent of Interior employees have accepted buyouts, amounting to about 7,500 workers—more than 1,000 staffers each from the National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, and Bureau of Reclamation.
Impact:
While these buyout and early retirement programs are technically voluntary, they come in the coercive context of widespread funding cuts, layoffs, and threats of additional layoffs. Many federal workers are taking these offers rather than risk being laid off later. Meanwhile, the public loses out on the critical services provided by these workers—including civil rights and employment law enforcement work at DOJ—whom in many cases the administration does not plan to replace.
DOGE Cancels Plans to Close 10 NLRB Field Offices
In February, DOGE claimed that it would direct the General Services Administration (GSA) to terminate the leases of 10 local field offices of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). On June 17, GSA reversed course and said that the offices would remain open.
Impact:
The NLRB is the sole enforcer of our nation’s bedrock labor law, and workers rely on local field offices and their staff to adjudicate disputes and enforce the law. Trump has sought to gut the board’s capacity, including through the unprecedented removal of Board Member Gwynne Wilcox. Absent an effective NLRB, workers are even more vulnerable to employer violations of their right to organize.
Trump Administration Tries to Make It Easier to Fire Federal Employees
The Office of Personnel Management issued a memorandum directing managers to give their supervisees lower performance ratings and move to fire them more quickly in spite of civil service protections.
Impact:
This is yet another piece of the administration's plan to hollow out federal agencies, get rid of employees, and eventually fill those spots with partisan loyalists.
National Archives and Records Administration Lays Off 100 Workers
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) told employees that it would cut about 3 percent of its staff, or about 100 employees.
Impact:
NARA is the federal agency tasked with preserving governmental and historical records, including those housed at presidential libraries. It performs an important transparency function, ensuring that records of events and government decisions are owned by and shared with the public.
Department of Education Asks Fired Workers If and When They Can Return to Their Jobs
A federal judge ordered reinstatement of more than 1,400 DOE employees found to be wrongfully terminated; DOE has reached out to them to see who can come back and when.
Impact:
The administration is appealing this ruling, and there is no confirmation that anyone has been brought back yet. This is all part of the administration's plan to eliminate the DOE.
Food and Drug Administration Announces It No Longer Recognizes Federal Labor Unions and Will Not Bargain With Them
Workers in these unions, many of whom are facing layoffs, no longer have access to a grievance procedure or representation from their unions.
Impact:
The administration is trying to remove all union rights from tens of thousands of employees in this agency so it can fire them at will, contrary to federal law and their collective bargaining agreements.