This year’s historic midterm elections empower Congress to address the Trump administration’s illegal assault on government agencies and the patriotic workers who dedicate their careers to public service – and AFGE already has outlined our initial list of priorities.
One of the first orders of business for the new Congress should be to pass legislation overturning President Trump’s orders from last year that illegally eliminated collective bargaining rights for more than a million federal employees. The House passed this legislation nearly a year ago on a bipartisan basis, but the Republican-led Senate has refused to bring it to a vote.
“Our nation’s civil servants work with dignity and honor to serve the American public, and stripping them of fundamental workplace rights and protections was an egregious wrongdoing that must be corrected,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said.
Members of Congress directly decide whether federal workers have a contract, a job, and a voice at work – and they are the only elected officials charged with overseeing how our government is managed and holding rogue actors to account.
That oversight hasn’t been happening because President Trump has had a stranglehold on his party’s House and Senate leaders. That all changes in January.
The incoming Congress must take action to halt and reverse many of President Trump’s executive orders and policies seeking to shut down congressionally mandated agencies, fire and displace federal workers, and gut merit systems protections. This assault on government services began with Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency and has continued to this day.
Congress should focus on “pulling up DOGE corruption by its roots,” Kelley said in a statement issued following the election results.
While we look forward to the new Congress taking charge in January, there is still critical work for our current elected leaders to do during this lame-duck session.
Congress has approved none of the 12 appropriations bills for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1, so most agencies are operating under a continuing resolution that expires Dec. 11. Lawmakers will need to either pass the budget bills or extend funding yet again to avoid a shutdown.
As part of those budget negotiations, AFGE is urging lawmakers to override President Trump’s proposed pay freeze for federal workers next year and provide all federal workers with at least the same 3.8% pay raise being provided to civilian law enforcement officers and military service members.
“Federal employees treat our veterans and support our military, safeguard our food and air, process retirement and disability payments for tens of millions of Americans every month, and so much more. Making sure they earn a fair wage isn’t just good for them – it’s good for the quality of government services and the people we all serve,” Kelley said.
AFGE also urges Congress to pass a provision in the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would restore full collective bargaining rights to Department of Defense workers.
Written by OPEIU 2 AFL-CIO
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