One year after President Trump took office with a mission to downsize the federal government and gut workers’ union rights and labor protections, AFGE has a message for the administration: we’re not going anywhere.
We are already winning back some of what had been lost – in just the past week, we defeated the administration’s attempt to strip Transportation Security Officers of their collective bargaining agreement and saw the administration revoke reduction-in-force notices that had been issued to hundreds of employees at the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (more on those victories below).
Over the course of 2025, AFGE filed 17 lawsuits against the Trump administration challenging the legality of policies targeting federal employees and the agencies where they work. One of those lawsuits was filed on Jan. 20 as President Trump was being inaugurated – indicating how well-prepared we were for the attacks that were to come.
In many cases, we have won court injunctions intended to prevent the administration from moving forward with its plans – at least temporarily – as our lawsuits work their way through the legal system.
In addition to legal challenges, AFGE also has lobbied members of Congress to support pro-worker legislation and oppose proposals targeting federal programs and workers’ labor rights.
Here are some of our most significant victories in 2025:
Collective Bargaining Rights – On June 25, 2025, U.S. District Judge James Denato ruled that the Trump administration likely violated the law by stripping nearly a million federal government employees of their union rights and issued a preliminary injunction preventing agencies from implementing President Trump’s March 27 executive order. Trump cited national security as the reason for the executive action, but AFGE and other unions successfully argued that the executive order was unconstitutional retaliation meant to punish them for engaging in activity protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, including vocal opposition and legal challenges to the administration.
The fight to restore workers’ union rights notched a significant victory in Congress on Dec. 11, 2025, when the House voted 231-195 to approve the Protect America’s Workforce Act (HR 2550), which would rescind the union-busting executive orders President Trump issued in March and August. Companion legislation in the U.S. Senate (S 2837) currently has 48 bipartisan cosponsors.
Probationary workers – On Sept. 15, 2025, U.S. District Judge William Alsup ruled that the Office of Personnel Management violated the law by ordering the mass firing of about 25,000 federal employees at six agencies who were on their probationary period. Ruling on a lawsuit AFGE and allies filed in February 2025, Judge Alsup said OPM exceeded its authority by instructing agencies to fire employees based on fabricated performance issues. The affected employees work at the Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Interior, Energy, Defense, and Treasury departments.
Shutdown terminations – On Dec. 17, 2025, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston ordered the Trump administration to nullify the terminations of federal employees at four federal agencies, saying they were implemented in clear violation of the bipartisan law that ended the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. Judge Illston’s order required the administration to rescind reduction-in-force (RIF) notices issued to civil servants at the Small Business Administration, General Services Administration, the State Department, and the Department of Education.
Deferred Resignations: AFGE successfully pushed back against the Trump administration’s efforts to compel mass numbers of federal workers to voluntarily quit their jobs under what was known as the Fork in the Road ultimatum – turning a rushed, confusing pressure tactic into a slower, contested process that gave employees time and clearer information. Our legal challenges forced the administration to push back its deadline for employees to respond to the resignation offer, buying federal workers breathing room to weigh the risks, consult their families, and make informed choices. We also distributed plain-language guidance on what the offer did and did not guarantee. And while the so-called Department of Government Efficiency talked about cutting the workforce by as much as 75%, forecasts now point closer to 300,000 reductions through reductions-in-force and deferred resignations – about 12.5% of the workforce – thanks to AFGE slowing the process and raising the legal stakes.
Reductions-in-force: AFGE has filed or been involved in several lawsuits challenging the Trump administration’s attempts to dismantle agencies and issue widespread reductions-in-force. In May 2025, a federal court ruled that the administration must get congressional approval before implementing any RIFs or reorganization plans. While litigation in the case continues, our legal challenges helped get proposed RIFs rescinded at several agencies.
U.S. Agency for Global Media Bargaining Rights – On Nov. 14, 2025, U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman granted a preliminary injunction finding that the administration’s Aug. 28 cancellation of collective bargaining rights at the U.S. Agency for Global Media and Voice of America was unconstitutional retaliation against AFGE and our sister union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, in violation of the First Amendment and was an unlawful exercise of authority.
U.S. Agency for Global Media Closure – On April 22, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth granted a preliminary injunction affirming that the Trump administration unlawfully shuttered the U.S. Agency for Global Media. The decision enshrines USAGM’s legally required functions and protects the editorial independence of Voice of America (VOA) journalists and other federal media professionals within the agency and newsrooms that receive grants from the agency, such as Radio Free Asia and others.
Veterans Affairs Reorganization: In a major victory for federal workers, veterans, and the American people, the Department of Veterans Affairs in July reversed course on its plans to lay off more than 80,000 employees – 15% of the VA’s workforce – as part of a mass reorganization. The reversal came following mass community protests led by AFGE members.
TSA Contract: AFGE led a collation of unions in suing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and others in the administration in March 2025 for the unlawful and unilateral termination of our negotiated union contract with the Transportation Security Administration covering about 47,000 Transportation Security Officers (TSOs). In June, a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction that blocks the administration from unilaterally terminating our TSA contract. In December, Noem announced that she was cancelling the contract despite the injunction. We immediately filed a motion to compel the administration to abide by the preliminary injunction. On Jan. 15, the court granted our motion, declaring that our 2024 CBA remains in effect Union Activism Makes a Difference
These victories didn’t happen by accident. They were the direct result of grassroots activism by rank-and-file AFGE members, AFGE leaders, fellow unions, and a supporting public.
Through community rallies and political protests, interviews with local and national media outlets, and direct appeals to members of Congress, AFGE members kept the pressure on our elected leaders to fight the administration’s attacks on our government and our democratic principles.
On Feb. 11, members of Congress and AFGE allies joined hundreds of government workers on Capitol Hill to defend civil servants and the work they do as part of AFGE’s annual Legislative Conference. Lawmakers and pro-worker advocates stood in solidarity with federal workers and vowed to continue the fight against the Trump administration’s efforts to destroy our government and its ability to serve the American people.
On April 5, more than 1,400 “Hands Off!” protests were held across all 50 states and globally in response to the attacks on our democracy by President Trump and Elon Musk. In Washington, AFGE National President Everett Kelley addressed a crowd of thousands gathered on the National Mall.
On Aug. 28, President Kelley joined a coalition of more than two dozen leaders from civil rights, labor, and religious organizations participating in a March on Wall Street to protest the administration’s assault on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and on immigration policies that are militarizing our city streets.
In October, AFGE members protested the government shutdown through in-person rallies, media interviews, and flooding congressional offices with emails and calls. President Kelley appeared multiple times on national broadcast networks to highlight the emotional and financial distress being inflicted on federal workers. Members from coast-to-coast amplified AFGE’s message in their own media interviews, helping to bring the longest government shutdown in U.S. history to a close on Nov. 12.
Become an AFGE E-Dues Member Today
Converting our members to E-Dues has been critical for AFGE’s survival in the face of the Trump administration’s assault on federal workers’ jobs and workplace rights.
Members on E-Dues have retained their union membership – and the benefits that come with union membership – despite the administration ordering many agencies to stop taking union dues out of federal workers’ paychecks.
AFGE began the year with just north of 31,000 members on E-Dues, and now roughly two-thirds of our active membership is enrolled on E-Dues.
AFGE E-Dues is the only way for employees to retain their union membership and benefits no matter what happens. New and existing members can sign up on AFGE E-Dues from any device. The process takes just minutes and is secure and confidential.
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