AFGE has been challenging the Trump administration’s assault on federal workers’ jobs, union contracts, and legal rights through a multitude of lawsuits.
We have scored significant victories in several of these legal challenges, including pushing back on the administration’s repeated attempts to overturn judicial rulings in our favor, while other cases are working their way through the complex legal process.
Below is a brief update on the status of some of our main cases. Click here for an overview of all of our lawsuits against the Trump administration.
Summary: AFGE’s National Veterans Affairs Council and AFGE Local 2305 filed a lawsuit in November 2025 challenging an Aug. 6 action by VA Secretary Doug Collins to unilaterally terminate AFGE’s master collective bargaining agreement covering more than 320,000 VA employees.
Court action: U.S. District Judge Melissa DuBose granted our preliminary injunction on March 13, 2026, ordering the VA to reinstate the contract and all subsidiary agreements. Subsequent attempts by the VA to “re-terminate” the contract have been denied in court.
Current status: The master collective bargaining agreement remains in force as negotiations continue on a successor contract to the contract that took effect in August 2023. The VA’s underlying appeal of the injunction remains pending in court.
Summary: On July 2, 2026, more than 20 AFGE locals and councils, along with three affiliates from the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE-IAM), filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland challenging Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s April 9 memorandum directing DoD components to terminate all collective bargaining agreements within 24 hours, with limited exceptions.
Court action: The unions filed a preliminary injunction July 20 asking the court to halt implementation of Hegseth’s directive and order DoD to rescind any contract termination notices issued as a result. The court granted, in part, the administration’s request to respond to the motion. The administration’s deadline to respond was set for Aug. 24.
Current status: Our motion for a preliminary injunction remains pending in court, with a hearing likely to take place this fall. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of DoD civilian employees – many of whom are veterans and members of military families – have been stripped of union rights they have held for decades, with some contracts in place for more than 50 years.
Summary: AFGE’s Council of Prison Locals filed a lawsuit on Nov. 13, 2025, challenging Bureau of Prisons Director William Marshall’s Sept. 25 order terminating the collective bargaining agreement covering more than 30,000 BOP employees represented by our union.
Court action: On April 28, 2026, U.S. District Judge Vernon D. Oliver denied the agency’s motions to either dismiss the case or stay the case pending another court’s ruling in AFGE’s appeal of the underling Trump administration order stripping nearly a million federal workers of their collective bargaining rights under the guise of national security.
Current status: The union’s motion for a preliminary injunction is pending before Judge Oliver, as well as a motion requesting additional discovery. Meanwhile, the federal correctional officers and staff who protect our communities from some of most dangerous criminals in the country are forced to work without the benefits and protections afforded them by their union contract.
Summary: AFGE and our sister union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), submitted new legal filings July 1, 2026, in our ongoing lawsuit against the Trump administration’s efforts to unlawfully reorganize and downsize the federal government after the U.S. Department of Agriculture began implementing a reorganization plan that would reduce the department’s workforce and forcibly relocate thousands of employees hundreds of miles from their current worksites.
Court action: Our motion for a preliminary injunction to halt the USDA’s unlawful reorganization and restructuring actions is pending before the U.S. District Court, and a hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 1.
Current status: USDA is proceeding with its reorganization plans absent any court ruling and despite current budget language directing the agency not to restructure or downsize without further congressional approval.
Summary: On Jan. 27, 2026,AFGE filed a supplemental complaint in our ongoing lawsuit against the Trump administration’s efforts to unlawfully reorganize and downsize the federal government challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s unlawful and drastic reduction of staff at the Federal Emergency Management Agency beginning Jan. 1.
Court action: On June 26, the court issued a split ruling by denying our motion for a preliminary injunction while also denying the government’s motion to dismiss the case.
Current status: Even though our preliminary injunction was not granted, the FEMA litigation resulted in the government reinstating most of the FEMA employees who had been terminated. A hearing on our request for a partial summary judgment is scheduled for Sept. 1.
Summary: On July 28, AFGE and two federal employees from the Bureau of Prisons filed a lawsuit against the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission challenging its suspension of processing federal-sector class complaints pending before its administrative judges, which is preventing hearings and decisions on properly filed complaints.
Court action: Our motion for a preliminary injunction seeking to prevent EEOC from implementing the policy is pending before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Current status: An EEOC official denied any official policy to suspend the processing of complaints in an official response to our lawsuit, while within weeks of our lawsuit being filed administrative judges began issuing scheduling orders in the underlying complaint in our lawsuit as well as several other cases that have been stalled for months.
Summary: AFGE joined a group of public service unions in suing the Office of Personnel Management in February 2025 over the firing of about 25,000 federal employees at six agencies who were on their probationary period.
Court action: U.S. District Judge William Alsup granted our preliminary injunction in March 2025, ordering an immediate reinstatement of terminated employees. The U.S. Supreme Court stayed the reinstatement order the following month, but in September 2025 Judge Alsup ruled that OPM violated the law by instructing agencies to fire employees based on fabricated performance issues.
Current status: Thousands of probationary employees who had been terminated were reinstated as a result of our lawsuit. A hearing on the government’s appeal of the judge’s order is scheduled for Aug. 28.
Summary: AFGE filed a federal lawsuit on Aug. 5, 2026, to compel the Transportation Security Administration to turn over records about TSA Gold+, the agency’s program to put private contractors in charge of passenger screening and the screening technology itself.
Court action: TSA has until early September to respond to our complaint.
Current status: The court case remains active. Meanwhile, TSA is proceeding with plans to launch TSA Gold+ at three airports next year: Tampa, Fla.; Charleston, S.C.; and Des Moines, Iowa.
AFGE applauds the Tampa International Airport for deciding not to privatize its airport security screening functions.
Read More
AFGE has been challenging the Trump administration’s assault on federal workers’ jobs, union contracts, and legal rights through a multitude of lawsuits.
Read More
AFGE Local 1924 is putting another $25,000 into AFGE’s Federal Employee Defense Fund.
Read More
