Trump’s Sweeping Order Shields Key Agencies From Unions
President Donald J. Trump has issued a new executive order that significantly expands the list of federal agencies and subdivisions excluded from the Federal Labor-Management Relations Program. The order, which the White House says is aimed at enhancing national security, adds new entities and revises existing ones to exempt them from collective bargaining rights under Chapter 71 of Title 5, United States Code.
The new directive, which amends Executive Order 12171 of November 19, 1979, is based on a determination that the newly excluded agencies have a “primary function of intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security work.”
The order states that applying federal labor relations law to these entities would be inconsistent with national security requirements.
Among the most notable new exclusions are:
- Units within the Bureau of Reclamation with primary responsibility for operating, managing, or maintaining hydropower facilities. A White House fact sheet cited energy security as a critical national security mission, noting that these facilities provide “black start capacity” for restarting the electric grid in the event of a major outage.
- The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The order marks a significant shift for the space agency, removing it entirely from the federal labor relations program. This comes as the administration has prioritized streamlining the commercial space industry and has emphasized the national security imperatives of U.S. space leadership.
- The United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM). The agency, which oversees international broadcasting networks like Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, is also newly excluded.
- A revised list of Department of Commerce subdivisions, which now explicitly names the International Trade Administration, the Office of the Commissioner for Patents, and subordinate units of the Patent and Trademark Office, as well as several subdivisions of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, including the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service and the National Weather Service.
The executive order also includes a provision that extends the deadline for the Secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs to issue their own orders regarding labor-management programs, as permitted by a previous executive order.
The move is the latest action by the Trump administration to reform federal labor relations, following an earlier executive order in March 2025 that excluded a wide range of agencies.
The administration’s position, as outlined in the documents, is that the collective bargaining process impedes effective and swift executive decision-making on issues like workforce policies and mission execution.
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