Two anti-worker amendments opposed by AFGE were prevented from being included in the fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) prior to the House passing the bill last week.
One provision, Amendment 41 offered by Rep. Bob Onder (R-Mo.), would have removed language from the bill that restores DoD workers’ union rights. The amendment was pulled from consideration due to lack of support.
Most DoD civilian employees were among the more than 1 million federal employees who were excluded from collective bargaining through an executive order President Trump signed in March 2025. Section 1115 of the NDAA, added by Rep. Donald Norcross, D-N.J., would prohibit DoD from implementing the union-busting orders.
Another provision opposed by AFGE, Amendment 1374 from Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.), would have required the Secretary of Defense to submit a report to Congress detailing options for reducing the number of DoD civilian employees by 200,000.
DoD civilian employees – 45% of whom are veterans – support our warfighters by maintaining ships, aircraft, and vehicles and by staffing critical logistics, cybersecurity, and medical functions. Cutting more than 25% of the civilian workforce would require shifting this work to more costly contractors or servicemembers themselves, resulting in higher costs and greater stress on the force.
The Grothman amendment was defeated by a 175-254 vote, with 43 Republicans joining 210 Democrats and one independent in opposition.
The underlying House bill, HR 8800, passed by a vote of 216-212. It will need to be reconciled with whatever version passes the U.S. Senate, which is still debating the bill.
AFGE will work to ensure that the language restoring DoD workers’ collective bargaining rights is retained in the final bill and keep out any provisions designed to slash the federal workforce.
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