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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Trump Administration Lays Off 10,000 Health Agency Workers, Including From Critical Worker Safety Agency
The Trump administration laid off about 10,000 workers from agencies across the Department of Health and Human Services, including the Centers for Disease Control, Food and Drug Administration, National Institute of Health, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Nearly 900 workers were cut from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
Impact:
NIOSH studies worker safety and health and investigates workplace injuries and outbreaks of disease. The Trump cuts most strongly impacted the agency’s mine safety research and respirator approval programs as well as the National Firefighter Registry for Cancer.
Trump Admin Begins Massive Purge of U.S. Health and Human Services Department Workers
Up to 10,000 U.S. Health and Human Services Department (HHS) workers are expected to be fired as the Trump administration purges the workforce of the agency responsible in the U.S. for tracking health trends, disease outbreaks, and regulating food.
Impact:
This comes after Trump’s recent executive order attempting to end collective bargaining with federal labor unions in agencies with national security missions across the federal government. Last week, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced plans to remake the agency and reduce the workforce by a quarter.
Union Sues Trump Administration and Seeks to Block Trump From Stripping Collecting Bargaining Rights From Federal Workers
The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) filed a lawsuit in D.C. federal court to block Trump’s executive order aimed at stripping collective bargaining rights from workers from more than a dozen federal agencies.
Impact:
The lawsuit comes after Trump’s recent executive order that require unions to stop collecting union dues and would strip federal workers of collective bargaining rights. In addition to Trump’s EO, eight federal agencies filed a lawsuit against dozens of local union affiliates seeking to invalidate existing union contracts covering thousands of workers. Ending collective bargaining rights for federal workers would make easier Trump’s goal of mass firings of the federal workforce.
Trump Picks Former Congressman for Labor Inspector General
Former Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, a Republican from New York who recently lost re-election amidst controversy over unethical conduct, is Trump’s pick for labor inspector general (IG).
Impact:
Trump’s pick of former Rep. D’Esposito as labor IG comes after Trump fired Larry Turner along with a dozen other agency IGs in a clear attempt to insulate the Trump administration from any independent oversight or accountability.
Trump Nominates Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division Leader and Labor Solicitor
Trump has nominated EEOC Acting General Counsel Andrew Rogers as head of the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) and conservative attorney Jonathan Berry as labor solicitor.
Impact:
Andrew Rogers previously worked in the WHD during Trump’s first administration. Jonathan Berry co-authored the Trump administration’s blueprint Project 2025.
Trump Admin Fires Nearly Entire Staff at Headquarters of U.S. Institute of Peace
Between 200-300 U.S. Institute of Peace workers at headquarters have been fired by DOGE, in another example of the Trump admin’s hostile takeover of federal agencies and institutes.
Impact:
The U.S. Institute of Peace has about 600 workers worldwide. The mass firings of almost the entire staff at headquarters comes a couple weeks after the Trump administration forcibly removed the institute’s president and installed an agent of Elon Musk’s DOGE.
Trump Administration Lays Off Nearly All Remaining USAID Employees
The Trump administration began the process of laying off the remaining 900 employees at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The layoffs will take effect either July 1 or September 2. USAID previously employed more than 10,000 employees worldwide.
Impact:
The U.S. was the largest provider of humanitarian assistance worldwide, deploying billions of dollars through multiple agencies, including USAID. Foreign aid and humanitarian organizations that depend on these funding streams cannot provide their live-saving services.
Trump Sues to End Union Contracts for Federal Workers
The Trump administrations filed a lawsuit against the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) to invalidate existing collective bargaining agreements between workers and federal agencies.
Impact:
The lawsuit comes after Trump’s executive order attempts to revoke collective bargaining rights for most of the federal workforce. Trump is asking U.S. District Judge Alan Albright, a Trump appointee, to reinterpret federal law that would allow federal agencies to rescind labor contracts. Around 32 percent of public sector workers are members of unions, which is more than five times the rate of private sector employees.
Federal Judge Temporarily Protects U.S. Agency for Global Media
A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order halting the effort to fire some 1,200 Voice of America employees. The order bars the agency from “any further attempt to terminate, reduce-in-force, place on leave, or furlough” employees or contractors, and from closing any offices or requiring overseas employees to return to the U.S.”
Impact:
The agency has more than 2,000 employees, broadcasts in 49 languages, and reaches a weekly estimated audience of more than 361 million people.
Trump Signs an Executive Order Ending Collective Bargaining at Federal Agencies he Claims are Involved in National Security
The EO ends collective bargaining at a wide swath of agencies and sub-agencies that have functions that have nothing to do with national security including HHS, the Department of Commerce, and Veterans' Affairs. However, the U.S. Customs and Border Control agents' union is NOT covered by this order, likely because the union endorsed Trump for President, nor are agency police officers, security guards, or firefighters.
Impact:
Unions have been leading the resistance efforts to this administration's illegal actions with regard to public servants and workers at large. This latest attack, right out of the Project 2025 playbook, is retaliation for their successes thus far in the federal courts, and is trying to take away federal public servants' legal rights to collectively bargain with their agencies.