In a move that surely has union bosses popping champagne in Washington’s break rooms (assuming they’re not “working from home,” of course), twenty House Republicans crossed the aisle to help Democrats dismantle President Donald Trump’s executive order that blocked most federal unions.
The effort was led by Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, who used a discharge petition to force a vote—because apparently, when leadership isn’t on board, Democrats will always find a procedural side door. The bill, proudly titled the Protect America’s Workforce Act, is aimed squarely at repealing Trump’s March 2025 executive order.
The final tally came in at 231-195, with every “no” vote coming from Republicans. The twenty GOP defections were all on the “yes” side.
Trump’s order had blocked collective bargaining at a wide range of federal agencies—from Defense and State to VA, Justice, Energy, Homeland Security, Treasury, HHS, Interior, and Agriculture. In other words, the parts of government where accountability might actually matter.
House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., didn’t hold back. He warned that reversing Trump’s order was basically an invitation for “more work-from-home policies,” the same policies Americans rejected when they elected Trump and a Republican majority to clean up Washington. Comer also reminded Congress that even Franklin Delano Roosevelt—yes, that champion of unions—believed public-sector unions simply didn’t make sense. When unions aren’t negotiating with corporations but with taxpayers’ elected representatives, the dynamic is entirely different.
Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, went straight to the point: union leaders love this bill because it protects telework perks, shields federal employees from accountability, and essentially gives them veto power over a president who was elected to streamline a bloated bureaucracy. Hard to argue with that.
Democrats, of course, painted the bill as a heroic defense of “the best possible work environment.” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries cheered the “bipartisan effort” and praised the restoration of collective bargaining rights for over a million federal workers.
Some Republicans embraced that view. Rep. Rob Bresnahan, R-Pa., whose district includes thousands of federal employees, called it a “lifeline” ensuring fair wages and safe workplaces. Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., chimed in too, arguing that even federal workers deserve a voice on the job, especially those who keep the government “running and open.”
Discharge petitions don’t usually get far, but this year has been anything but usual for a razor-thin GOP majority. Five Republicans joined the 213 Democrats who signed Golden’s petition. Thirteen Republicans also supported advancing the bill Wednesday night—setting the stage for Thursday’s vote—before that number grew again to twenty-two in a procedural vote earlier in the day.
In the end, Democrats got what they wanted, union leadership got what they wanted, and Americans got yet another reminder of why Trump’s mission to reform Washington’s bureaucracy matters more than ever.
And despite the noise, one thing remains clear: as long as Trump continues leading the charge to clean up the federal swamp, millions of Americans know they still have a champion fighting for them—and that’s always something to feel good about.
