Protesters gather outside the Theodore Roosevelt Federal Building headquarters of the US Office of Personnel Management in Washington, DC on February 5, 2025 (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that would repeal an executive order from President Donald Trump that strips about a million federal workers of collective bargaining rights.
The 231-195 vote was a sporadic bipartisan defiance of the president. The bill was sponsored by Jared Golden of Maine, a Democrat, and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, a Republican. Twenty Republicans joined all Democrats in supporting the The invoice.
The proposal now heads to the Senate, but it’s unclear whether it will garner enough support to reach the chamber’s 60-vote threshold – or even be put to a vote.
The move also bothered House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, who did not bring the bill up for a vote on Wednesday. Instead, lawmakers were able to vote on it through a legislative maneuver known as a discharge motion.
The process allows rank-and-file members to force the House to vote on measures not advanced by the majority party’s leadership, and this is how bills typically reach a vote.
To vote on Wednesday To advance the dismissal motion, 13 Republicans joined all Democrats.
After Wednesday’s procedural vote, Golden said in a statement that the bill would restore the rights of federal employees.
“President Trump said ending collective bargaining is about protecting our national defense,” he said. “But in my district, many affected workers are building our warships and caring for our veterans. If the majority we have built over the last few months stands together, we can repeal this anti-union regulation and show America that this body will protect workers’ rights.”
House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, spoke out against the bill Thursday, saying lax accountability for federal workers hurts taxpayers.
“Problems with accountability in the federal workforce are legendary,” he said. “It takes a Herculean effort to fire a low-performing federal employee or someone who commits misconduct.”
Trump signed an executive order in March, collective bargaining agreements were banned for federal agencies that deal with national security.
These agencies include, but are not circumscribed to, the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security, State, and Energy, as well as the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Coast Guard, most Justice Department facilities, and several pandemic response and refugee resettlement agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services.
The federal police and fire departments are exempt from the order.
Federal employees have circumscribed collective bargaining agreements compared to the private sector. Workers cannot strike or bargain for higher wages or benefits, but they can push for better working conditions, such as protection from retaliation, discrimination and illegal firings.
