To say that this was a challenging year for federal workers would be an enormous understatement. From forced layoffs and defunding of critical programs to a top-down assault on collective bargaining rights and the longest ever government shutdown, federal employees have endured one hardship after the other.
Yet throughout it all, America’s civil servants continued to serve the American public with honor and distinction – protecting the nation and securing our borders, processing Social Security payments and other vital benefits, safeguarding the food we eat and the air we breathe, caring for veterans, responding to disasters, and so much more.
And despite it all, AFGE remains committed to serving our members while fighting to defend our nation’s democratic principles and non-partisan civil service.
Here’s a brief look back at the past year:
President Trump began his second term in office by issuing a flurry of executive actions designed to dismantle the federal government and silence workers’ voices. These actions were an assault on our Constitution, our democracy, our justice system, our country’s diversity, and our individual rights and protections.
Just as quickly as President Trump issued his destructive orders, AFGE and likeminded organizations set out challenging the legality of his executive actions in court.
As he was taking the oath of office on Jan. 20, AFGE joined Public Citizen and the State Democracy Defenders Fund in suing President Trump and the Office of Management and Budget over the creation of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
We filed subsequent lawsuits challenging the administration’s illegal RIFs both before and during the government shutdown, removing collective bargaining rights for two-thirds of the federal workforce on national security grounds, the mass termination of probationary employees at multiple agencies, efforts to shut down agencies including the U.S. Agency for International Development and Voice of America, the mass reclassification of tens of thousands of federal employees into at-will positions, and many others.
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.
Click here for an overview and update on our lawsuits against the administration.
A challenging year for federal workers became almost unbearable when Congress failed to pass a spending bill to keep the federal government operating past Sept. 30, resulting in the longest-ever U.S. government shutdown.
Making matters worse, the Trump administration launched an effort to illegally fire mass numbers of federal employees during the government shutdown – an action we successfully challenged in court.
The long stalemate over funding the government reached an end when a bipartisan majority in the U.S. Senate passed a continuing resolution on Nov. 9 that funds the government through Jan. 30. The bill passed the House and was signed into law by the president on Nov. 12.
A group of seven Senate Democrats spearheaded by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., fought to include critical federal worker protections advocated by AFGE in the final bill, including guaranteed back pay for the shutdown, reversal of thousands of reductions-in-force actions issued during October, and a moratorium on future RIFs for the duration of the continuing resolution.
The months-long effort to roll back President Trump’s executive orders blocking collective bargaining rights from more than a million federal workers got a significant boost in December, when a bipartisan majority of lawmakers in the U.S. House approved legislation to restore workers’ union rights.
The House voted 231-195 on Dec. 11 to approve the Protect America’s Workforce Act (HR 2550), which would rescind the executive orders President Trump issued in March and August that banned collective bargaining for most of the federal workforce.
“By voting to approve the Protect America’s Workforce Act, 231 members of Congress have demonstrated their support for the nonpartisan civil service, for the dedicated employees who serve our country with honor and distinction, and for the critical role that collective bargaining has in fostering a safe, protective, and collaborative workplace,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said.
Following the House victory, all eyes turned to the U.S. Senate, which has introduced its own bill (S. 2837) to restore federal workers’ collective bargaining rights. As of this writing, every member of the Democratic caucus has cosponsored this bill, as well as Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine. We need additional bipartisan support to ensure its passage.
In defiance of multiple federal laws including the U.S. Constitution, the Trump administration began asking prospective job applicants to illustrate their allegiance to the administration through the use of a “loyalty question.”
The question, which has appeared in more than 9,200 federal job listings since May 2025, prompts applicants to submit an essay on which of the Trump administration’s “Executive Orders and policy priorities” they support and “how [they] would help implement them if hired.”
On Nov. 6, AFGE sued the administration over the “loyalty question” along with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and the National Association of Government Employees (NAGE). In our lawsuit, we assert that the essay question is not only a clear violation of the First Amendment’s protections against political patronage, compelled speech, self-censorship, and viewpoint discrimination, but also violates the Privacy Act and Administrative Procedure Act.
In most cases, it’s easier to prevent something bad from happening rather than trying to undo something that’s already occurred. That’s why AFGE and our labor allies worked tirelessly in the days and hours leading up to the vote on President Trump’s signature economic legislation, dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” to remove anti-worker measures from both the House and Senate versions of the bill.
Provisions stricken from the final bill passed by Congress would have:
Thanks to bipartisan support from lawmakers in both the House and Senate, all of these provisions were dropped from the final version of the bill, which narrowly passed both chambers and was signed into law on July 4.
For the tens of thousands of federal workers paid hourly under the Wage Grade system, 2025 likely will be remembered for what almost happened: going yet another year without a pay raise.
More than 118,000 Defense Department employees in both appropriated and non-appropriated positions were paid under the Federal Wage System as of September 2024. The last pay adjustment they received was in 2023.
The reason for the delay? Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth paused all meetings of its advisory committees in March pending a larger review – including the one committee responsible for approving the Wage Grade pay adjustments.
But on Nov. 25, the Department of Defense Wage Committee finally met and approved publication of 2024 updates to about 1,600 wage schedules covering 250 wage areas. It was the first meeting in 2025 of the five-member committee, on which AFGE holds one of the two labor seats.
All employees should receive their raises by the end of this month. They will be retroactive to when they should have taken effect in 2024.
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 nearly 142,700 members are enrolled – roughly two-thirds of our active membership.
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.
The efforts of our union leaders and staff to highlight the critical work performed by federal and D.C. government workers, along with the labor rights and job protections that are essential to their success, were recognized this year across multiple national platforms.
For at least the second year running, AFGE National President Everett Kelley and AFGE Public Policy Director Jacqueline Simon in May were named to Washingtonian’s list of the 500 most influential people in D.C.
In early November, President Kelley was featured by online magazine The Root as one of the top influencers in the country when the magazine released its annual Root 100 list. In a subsequent list published Nov. 25, Kelley was singled out as one of the country’s top Black political changemakers – along with leaders including former Vice President Kamala Harris, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore.
In naming President Kelley to the Root 100 list, the magazine cited his leadership in fighting to secure full collective bargaining rights for transportation security officers, opposing Project 2025, and fighting the Trump administration’s efforts to fire mass numbers of federal workers.
“The Alabama native continues to advocate for more than 800,000 federal workers amid major institutional challenges, cementing his role as the necessary and unyielding voice defending the integrity of America’s public service,” the magazine said.
AFGE’s Communications Department received five awards from the International Labor Communications Association in October for work produced in 2024. The largest competition of its kind, the annual ILCA awards recognize the important work of labor journalists and unions in amplifying the voices of workers, shining the spotlight on injustice, and celebrating organizing victories.
Among the awards AFGE received was the Saul Miller Award for Political Action, for an article highlighting the union’s action to address staffing and safety concerns at correctional facilities managed by the Bureau of Prisons, including an investigative report by 60 Minutes and an op-ed published in The Hill newspaper.
In December, influential Capitol Hill publication The Hill named AFGE Legislative Director Daniel Horowitz and AFGE Legislative Representative Elliot Friedman to their annual list of top lobbyists. Chosen from more than 1,800 nominations submitted this year alone, recipients were selected for making measurable impacts in policy and politics.
Since taking office in January 2025, President Trump has issued a series of unlawful executive orders, and taken several unlawful actions, seeking to shut down congressionally mandated agencies, fire and displace federal workers, outlaw their unions, and gut merit systems protections.
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A federal judge has ordered the Department of Veterans Affairs to reinstate the union contract covering 320,000 VA employees represented by AFGE in a major victory over the implementation of President Trump’s union-busting executive orders.
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As the Department of Homeland Security shutdown reaches the one-month mark with no end in sight, AFGE leaders are calling on Congress to ensure all DHS workers are paid.
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