President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order on Aug. 26, 2025, determining that Chapter 71 of Title 5, U.S. Code—governing federal labor-management relations— cannot be applied to specified agencies whose primary functions involve national security, acting under 5 U.S.C. § 7103(b)(1), according to the signed executive order and a White House fact sheet.
The order applies to hydropower units in the Bureau of Reclamation; the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); the Office of the Commissioner for Patents and subordinate units at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM); and two NOAA components: the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) and the National Weather Service (NWS). Existing collective-bargaining agreements remain in effect until expiration, while mid-term bargaining obligations are suspended immediately at covered components to speed time-sensitive operations, the administration maintains.
- Agencies are expected to release implementation guidance and timelines for changes under the order.
- Federal-employee unions—such as the American Federation of Government Employees and the National Treasury Employees Union—have signaled or initiated legal challenges testing the scope of 5 U.S.C. § 7103(b)(1).
- Operational impacts to watch: Bureau hydropower plants, NASA programs, NESDIS/NWS forecasting operations, PTO secrecy-order workflows, and USAGM activities.
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