Maine Congressman Jared Golden is attempting to force a vote on a bill that would reverse a Trump executive order targeting unionized federal workers.
In March, President Trump eliminated the collective bargaining rights of roughly 1 million federal workers, citing national security concerns. A federal judge in California temporarily blocked the Trump administration from carrying out the executive order last month in response to lawsuits filed by multiple unions representing federal workers.
But Golden, a Democrat, said he believes the House would reverse that decision — if given the chance. Days after Trump issued his executive order, Golden and Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania introduced a bill to restore the negotiating rights of unionized workers in 18 federal agencies.
The legislation remains stuck in committee, however.
"We know if this bill comes to the House floor, we can win," Golden said Thursday. "We have 222 co-sponsors, including seven Republicans — more than enough to pass this bill. But so far, no willingness to bring it to the floor from Republican leadership."
Golden was speaking during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol signaling a more public push in his effort to force a House vote on his bill with Fitzpatrick. He was joined by the presidents of four national labor unions and several of his Democratic colleagues, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York.
"Organized labor is facing an unprecedented assault right now as a result of the extreme actions of Donald Trump and his administration, targeting unions, targeting federal government employees and targeting organized labor in an extraordinary way," Jeffries said.
The president's executive order used a national security exemption to curb collective bargaining rights for employees at more than a dozen departments, including the departments of justice, veterans affairs and homeland security as well as many agencies with the Department of Health and Human Services. But union leaders said Thursday the move weakened national security by going after federal workers in the defense sector, veterans affairs and public health.
Matthew Biggs, president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, which represents 2,000 workers at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, said unions and frontline workers also often reveal problems in federal agencies.
"And so when you take away collective bargaining rights you are attempting to destroy our unions, obviously, and it will hurt transparency and accountability to the U.S. taxpayer," Biggs said.
So-called "discharge petitions" are among the few procedural maneuvers available to the minority party in the House, where the House Speaker and committee chairs largely control the agenda on the floor. To yank a bill from committee and force a floor vote, Golden and his supporters will need 218 signatures — just over one half of the House.
The bill from Golden and Fitzpatrick has 222 co-sponsors but the discharge petition only had a handful of signers as of Thursday morning.
Golden said he had not been asking his Democratic colleagues to sign yet because he was giving time to the seven GOP co-sponsors of the bill to consider joining the discharge petition. Fitzpatrick and one other Republican had done so as of Thursday. But Golden said "you can only wait so long on something like this" so he is beginning to ask his Democratic colleagues to sign.
The current party breakdown of the House is 220 Republicans, 212 Democrats and three vacant seats.
"The American people are watching," Golden said. "If every member who signed onto this bill will join us, we can overturn this union-busting action and show America that this body will protect workers' rights, no matter what."
