AFGE Contract: Terminations, Executive Orders, and Lawsuits

An AFGE contract — the collective bargaining agreement between the American Federation of Government Employees and a federal agency — sets the workplace rules for the roughly 820,000 federal employees the union covers.¹ Since March 2025, most of those agreements have been under direct attack. Two Trump executive orders have declared broad swaths of the federal workforce excluded from labor-management law on national security grounds, agencies have moved to terminate contracts one after another, and AFGE has filed more than a dozen federal lawsuits in response. Some contracts have been reinstated by court order. Others remain canceled. The fight is still moving through the courts.

Which Agencies Have an AFGE Contract

AFGE holds collective bargaining agreements at a long list of federal agencies. The largest and most consequential:

Department of Veterans Affairs. The VA-AFGE Master Agreement, signed August 8, 2023, covers more than 300,000 employees and is the single largest federal collective bargaining agreement. It kept roughly 99 percent of the language from the prior 2011 contract while updating hiring processes under the PACT Act and restoring official time for the health care workforce.²
Department of Defense. Approximately 300,000 civilian employees across the Army, Navy, Air Force, Defense Logistics Agency, and other components, with roughly 50 years of collective bargaining history.³
Transportation Security Administration. A seven-year agreement negotiated in 2024 covering approximately 47,000 Transportation Security Officers at more than 400 airports, including grievance and arbitration procedures, expanded official time, reduced sick leave restrictions, and increased uniform allowances.⁴
Bureau of Prisons. The AFGE Council of Prison Locals master agreement was originally set to run until May 2029, covering staffing, work schedules, safety equipment, overtime, leave, discipline, and grievances.⁵
Social Security Administration. The SSA-AFGE National Agreement, effective October 2019, covers roughly 38,000 employees and includes whistleblower protections, telework rights, and Weingarten representation rights during investigatory interviews.⁶
EPA. Council 238 covers more than 8,000 employees.⁷
HUD, EEOC, Department of Education, and FSIS. HUD Council 222 signed a contract in 2015 after a nearly 20-year gap; the EEOC contract is a five-year agreement effective December 2024; the Department of Education Local 252 contract took effect January 2025; and FSIS Council 45 covers approximately 6,500 food safety inspectors.⁸⁹

AFGE also represents workers at HHS components including the CDC and FDA, the Department of Justice, USAGM/Voice of America, and many other agencies.¹⁰

The Executive Orders Behind the Terminations

On March 27, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14251, “Exclusions from Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs.” It invoked a seldom-used provision of the Civil Service Reform Act that lets the president exclude agencies from the labor-management statute on national security grounds. The order designated more than a dozen departments and subdivisions as national-security-related, including Defense, Veterans Affairs, Justice, State, Treasury, and the EPA.¹¹ The administration estimated the order affected over 950,000 federal employees.¹²

A second order, issued August 28, 2025, extended the exclusions to NASA, the U.S. Agency for Global Media, NOAA’s National Weather Service and satellite services, the International Trade Administration, and Bureau of Reclamation hydropower units.¹³

Under both orders, once existing agreements expire or are terminated, agencies must reassign employees previously performing union work to “solely agency business,” stop processing pending grievances and arbitrations, and end dues withholding.¹¹

The Wave of Terminations

Starting in mid-2025, agencies canceled AFGE contracts in rapid succession:

VA — August 6, 2025. Secretary Doug Collins terminated contracts covering most of roughly 377,000 bargaining-unit employees. Approximately 4,000 VA police officers, firefighters, and security guards were exempted.⁹
EPA — August 8, 2025.¹⁴
FSIS — August 12, 2025, affecting approximately 6,500 food safety inspectors.⁹
HHS — August 22, 2025, across multiple components including the CDC and FDA.⁹
USAGM/Voice of America — August 29, 2025.¹²
Bureau of Prisons — September 25, 2025. Director William K. Marshall III called collective bargaining a “roadblock” and “an obstacle to progress.”¹⁵
TSA — DHS Secretary Kristi Noem first attempted termination in February 2025 and issued a second determination in September 2025.¹⁶
DoD — April 9, 2026. Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered termination of most DoD collective bargaining agreements within 24 hours, affecting the bulk of the 300,000 AFGE-represented employees at the department.¹⁷

What Workers Lose When the Contract Ends

The practical effects on employees have been immediate. When the Bureau of Prisons canceled its contract, correctional officers lost access to the grievance and arbitration process, union dues stopped being deducted from paychecks, and union representatives lost official time and the ability to represent employees during investigations or discipline.⁵ Union leaders warned the loss would worsen chronic understaffing and increase risks to officers.¹⁵

At the EPA, workers lost Weingarten rights to union representation during investigatory interviews.¹⁸ FSIS inspectors reported that without union recognition, growing workloads and understaffing could push them to do only the bare minimum at food processing plants.¹⁹

Even where arbitrators have ruled in the union’s favor after a termination, enforcement has been a problem. A December 2025 arbitration ruling found the EPA violated its contract by unilaterally imposing a return-to-office policy, but the decision could not be enforced because the agency had stopped participating in arbitration once it terminated the agreement.¹⁸

Where the Lawsuits Stand

AFGE and allied unions have filed more than a dozen federal lawsuits. Results so far are agency-specific.

The Broadest Challenge: AFGE v. Trump (Ninth Circuit)

AFGE’s headline challenge to Executive Order 14251, filed in the Northern District of California, initially won a preliminary injunction from District Judge James Donato in June 2025. On February 26, 2026, a three-judge Ninth Circuit panel vacated it. Judge Daniel Bress wrote that the order “discloses no retaliatory animus on its face” and that the administration would likely have issued it regardless of union opposition, giving the president “an appreciable measure of deference” in the national security context.²⁰

The panel did confirm that federal district courts have jurisdiction to hear the challenge, rejecting the government’s argument that unions had to go through an administrative process before the FLRA after being excluded from the statute’s coverage.²⁰ The ruling was limited to the preliminary injunction stage. Judge John Owens wrote separately to note that a fully developed factual record could change the analysis, and the merits remain pending in district court. AFGE has said it is considering en banc review.²¹

VA: Contract Reinstated by Court Order

The VA fight has been the most dramatic. After the August 2025 termination, AFGE Local 2305 sued in Rhode Island (Case No. 1:25-cv-00583).²² On March 13, 2026, U.S. District Judge Melissa DuBose granted a preliminary injunction ordering the VA to restore the agreement, finding the termination likely violated the First Amendment and the Administrative Procedure Act.²³

The VA issued a new termination notice the night of March 26, 2026, and argued the case was now moot. Judge DuBose rejected that the next day, calling the move “a blatant disrespect for not just this court’s order but for the rule of law.” She ordered the VA to explain why the re-termination should not be considered contempt of court and to prove compliance with the injunction by April 1.²⁴

On May 16, 2026, a unanimous First Circuit panel denied the VA’s motion to stay the injunction (No. 26-1321). The court found the VA had failed to show a strong likelihood of success on appeal, noted that its core “inoperable contract” argument had never been raised below and was forfeited, and pointed to the inconsistent application of the executive order and the disregard of OPM guidance to maintain agreements during pending litigation as evidence supporting retaliation.²⁵ The panel narrowed the enforcement mechanism, with Chief Judge David Barron writing that the district court could not force specific performance for every individual grievance through the injunction.²⁶ The underlying order requiring reinstatement of the contract and all amendments remains in force, and the VA’s attempted re-termination was declared to have “no force or effect.”

TSA: Contract Still Enforceable

In AFGE v. Noem (Case No. 2:25-cv-00451, W.D. Wash.), Judge Marsha Pechman granted a preliminary injunction on June 2, 2025, finding the termination appeared “arbitrary and capricious” and that the loss of collective bargaining would cause irreparable harm. She wrote that the action “appears to have been undertaken to punish AFGE.”²⁷ When the government issued a second determination in September 2025 and tried to implement it that December, Judge Jamal Whitehead ruled in January 2026 that the September determination violated the existing injunction and that the 2024 CBA remained “applicable and binding.”¹⁶ Trial is scheduled for September 2026.⁴

Bureau of Prisons: Merits Case Advancing

The AFGE Council of Prison Locals sued in November 2025 in the District of Connecticut (Case No. 3:25-cv-01907), assigned to Judge Vernon D. Oliver. The complaint argues the termination was arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act and that calling the union an “obstacle to progress” is not a national security justification.²⁸ In April 2026, Judge Oliver denied the government’s motions to dismiss and to transfer. Discovery is underway.²⁹

USAGM, SSA, and EPA

A D.C. federal court found in November 2025 that the USAGM termination was “clearly retaliatory” and ordered immediate reinstatement of the contracts. AFSCME & AFGE v. Trump (No. 1:25-cv-03306), before Judge Paul Friedman, remains active.¹² At SSA, an arbitrator ruled in March 2026 that the agency’s indefinite telework suspension violated the 2019 contract and ordered restoration to pre-March 2025 levels; SSA has said it will appeal to the FLRA.³⁰

What Comes Next

AFGE has pursued the legislative track alongside the litigation, backing the Protect America’s Workforce Act, which passed the House in December 2025 and would reverse the executive orders and authorize enforcement of arbitration decisions.¹⁸ The confrontation has also driven a membership surge: as of early 2025, 750 new bargaining units had reached out to AFGE for representation, with at least 150 described as “very serious” about joining.³¹

As of mid-2026, the picture is fractured. The Ninth Circuit has lifted the broadest injunction against the executive orders, letting the administration proceed with terminations where no other court order applies. Injunctions remain in force at the VA, TSA, and USAGM. The BOP case is advancing toward the merits. The fundamental question — whether the president can use national security exclusions to end collective bargaining for the majority of the federal workforce — has not yet been decided on a full factual record in any court.

1
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2
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AFGE. AFGE Blasts Secretary Hegseth Move to Terminate AFGE Collective Bargaining Agreements at DoD
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Federal News Network. DHS Moves to Eliminate TSA Collective Bargaining Agreement Again
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Forbes. Bureau of Prisons Cancels Collective Bargaining Agreement With Union
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OPM. SSA AFGE 2019 CBA
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AFGE. EPA Council Will Keep Fighting After Trump Administration Cancels Contract
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AFGE. After Nearly 20 Years, AFGE, HUD Sign New Contract
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15
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AFGE. TSA Must Honor Workers’ Union Contract, Judge Rules
17
Federal News Network. DoD Moves to End Most Collective Bargaining Agreements
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Federal News Network. Despite EPA Violation of Union Contract, Ruling Can’t Be Enforced
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Farm Policy News. USDA Terminating Food Safety Employee Union Contracts
20
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Federal News Network. Appeals Court Axes Injunction on Trump’s Collective Bargaining Rollback
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23
Federal News Network. VA Ordered to Restore AFGE Contract Under Federal Judge’s Temporary Order
24
Government Executive. Judge Contemplates Contempt Proceedings After VA Re-Terminated Union Contract
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U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. AFGE Local 2305 v. Department of Veterans Affairs, No. 26-1321
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Government Executive. Appeals Court Upholds Order Reinstating VA’s Union Contracts
27
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Government Executive. Correctional Officers Sue for Restoration of Union Rights
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Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. National Council of Prison Locals v. Federal Bureau of Prisons
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Federal News Network. Social Security Ordered to Restore Telework
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Federal News Network. AFGE Sees Surge in New Members