President Donald Trump’s bid to cancel collective bargaining rights for most federal workers hit a snag on Wednesday after a federal judge ruled against the administration’s lawsuit against government labor unions.
Judge Alan Albright of the Western District of Texas issued a 27-page ruling that said the Trump administration lacks the legal standing necessary to continue its case against the American Federation of Government Employees.
“This Court is unable to identify a single instance in which a federal court has exercised jurisdiction over agencies seeking a pre-enforcement declaratory judgment approving their desired future course of conduct,” Albright wrote.
The judge wrote the lawsuit risks opening “a Pandora’s Box” that could see the executive branch routinely seek court approval to preemptively validate its executive orders.
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In March, Trump signed an executive order to end collective bargaining with federal labor unions in agencies with national security missions, citing his authority granted under the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978.
Trump’s order argued that the need to end collective bargaining with federal unions in these agencies is because of their role in safeguarding national security.
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Albright wrote that the Trump administration made “compelling arguments,” but that the lawsuit remains an unprecedented invitation for an advisory opinion.
“It is difficult for this Court to understand how any complaint filed by the government seeking a pre-enforcement, and in this instance, pre-announcement, declaratory judgment greenlighting its desired future course of conduct would not be an advisory opinion,” the judge said in the ruling.
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