Unions representing federal workers can sue the Trump administration over its mass terminations, as opposed to being restricted to bringing challenges to federal labor boards, a judge said on March 24.
U.S. District Judge William Alsup said that the boards would not be able to adjudicate the unions’ claims that the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) violated the U.S. Constitution’s separation of powers doctrine.
“In sum, but for district court jurisdiction, the public-sector unions will be precluded from judicial recourse and relief even for their separation-of-powers claim,” Alsup said in the ruling.
The American Federation of Government Employees and other unions sued the administration in February over OPM directives sent to agency heads, which aimed to further President Donald Trump’s goal of reducing the federal workforce and said agencies should fire newer employees who were not deemed critical to the mission of each agency....
