AFGE and NFFE Filed Suit Against DoD on July 3, 2026
Two major federal employee unions sued the Defense Department on July 3, 2026, over its cancellation of collective bargaining agreements for most of its civilian workforce. The American Federation of Government Employees and the National Federation of Federal Employees allege the department violated the Administrative Procedure Act by scrapping the agreements without legal justification.
The lawsuit centers on a memo Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued on April 9, 2026, directing DoD components to terminate virtually all CBAs within 24 hours. The memo cited Executive Order 14251, which President Trump signed roughly a year earlier, authorizing agencies with national security missions to suspend collective bargaining.
DoD Had Honored CBAs for a Year Before the Abrupt Reversal
The unions’ core legal argument is not just that the terminations were wrong, but that DoD’s sudden reversal was unexplained and therefore unlawful. For approximately one year after EO 14251 was issued, the Defense Department continued honoring its collective bargaining agreements. The April 9 memo offered no explanation for why that policy changed.
“The [executive order] had been issued a year earlier and the legality of the executive order is still being disputed in multiple court cases. The secretary did not explain why DoD was suddenly changing course about CBAs more than a year after issuance of the executive order.”
AFGE and NFFE Joint Complaint, filed July 3, 2026
The APA requires agencies to provide a “reasoned explanation” when reversing established policy. The lawsuit argues DoD’s overnight pivot, with almost no notification to union leaders about what actions were being taken, is the definition of “arbitrary and capricious” conduct under the statute.
The Rollout Was Chaotic by the Pentagon’s Own Timeline
The complaint describes the rollout as “chaotic.” Union leaders received little to no communication about which specific agreements were being terminated or when. Some were reportedly notified by informal channels rather than official notice. The 24-hour implementation window left no time for affected workers or their representatives to respond.
The legality of EO 14251 itself remains unresolved in multiple separate court cases. The unions argue CBAs should have remained in effect at minimum until that litigation concluded, or until the agreements expired on their own terms.
The relief sought is direct: the complaint asks the court to vacate Hegseth’s April 9 memo and set aside all actions taken under it.
What You Can Do Now
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Call your senators at (202) 224-3121 and tell them to oppose any budget or authorization language that would codify EO 14251 or strip federal employees of collective bargaining rights. Ask them specifically to oppose any provision in the FY2027 NDAA that removes CBA protections for DoD civilians.
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Contact the Senate Armed Services Committee directly at (202) 224-3871. The committee oversees DoD civilian personnel policy. Ask members to hold a hearing on Hegseth’s April 9 memo and its impact on DoD’s civilian workforce before the NDAA markup is finalized.
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Find your House representative at house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative and urge them to request a Government Accountability Office review of DoD’s CBA terminations, including the cost and readiness impact of rapid workforce policy changes.
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Track the lawsuit through PACER at pacer.gov or through AFGE’s updates at afge.org. Key early deadlines in APA cases typically come within 60 days of filing.
Sources
Federal News Network: Unions Sue DoD Over Termination of Collective Bargaining Agreements Cornell Law School LII: Administrative Procedure Act Text and Overview Federal Register: Executive Order 14251 on Exclusions From Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs AFGE: About the American Federation of Government Employees Brennan Center: Federal Workers and Civil Service Protections Under Trump