President Donald Trump can exclude some federal employees from unionizing, a federal appeals court ruled on June 17.
The president is authorized in federal law to exclude agencies from collective bargaining for national security considerations, a unanimous panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said.
The law states that the president can exclude an agency or subdivision if it is primarily involved in intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security work, and that the union protections “cannot be applied to that agency or subdivision in a manner consistent with national security requirements and considerations.”
Trump in March 2025 signed an executive order excluding multiple agencies, including the Department of Justice, and certain subdivisions from unionizing. He cited the law in the order….