The New York Times summarized the issue well in its report on the latest block by a federal judge on a Trump Executive Order. Judge Paul L. Friedman of the Federal District Court in Washington ruled in favor of the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents tens of thousands of federal workers across the government.
Those unions have been a major obstacle in Mr. Trump's effort to slash the size of the federal workforce and reshape the government. With every stroke of the pen from Mr. Trump enacting new orders aimed at tightening control over the federal bureaucracy, federal worker unions have responded with lawsuits, winning at least temporary reprieves for some fired federal workers and blocking efforts to dismantle portions of the government.
Of the approximately 130 EOs President Trump has issued to date, nearly a dozen relate to managing the federal workforce of the United States government— paid for by the American taxpayer. The most crucial role of any CEO in corporate America is the ability to adjust employee headcount in accordance with the corporate mission. As the Chief Executive of the federal bureaucracy, President Trump should have enormous powers to hire and fire at will, given that he is merely implementing the wishes of the taxpayers who voted in last November's election.
However, the unions, aided by strong legal language blessed by prior Congresses that have granted the federal workforce substantial protections unavailable to most private sector employees—such as the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), due process, and federal labor laws—have sued willy-nilly. Federal district judges and the court system, themselves federal employees, have expressed sympathy with their co-workers in ruling repeatedly against President Trump. At this rate, the will of the taxpaying voter risks being thwarted by a few.
I used to advise the federal government for nearly 18 months after 9/11 when Washington commissioned the expertise of various private consulting firms to help build our nation's new security architecture. [My company, working with two other federal contractors, helped put in place the passenger security screening infrastructure at the nation's 400-plus airports. The Transportation Security Administration was still being formed then - we did most of our work for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)].
During weekly meetings with our federal overseers, I got a backstage view of our government's inner workings. Most of the people I encountered were professional and deeply committed to their roles. However, each federal senior manager's primary goal was to justify more work by either expanding a project's scope or asking us to bid on new projects. Federal agencies hire consulting firms to help write these new proposals, although, by federal contracting rules, they are not allowed to bid on the work contained in those proposals.
The end goal of all federal projects was to ask the consulting firms to submit a voluminous report with detailed data and analysis, with a 4-5 page executive summary recommending expanding a project's scope or "investing" in new projects. The federal senior managers would then submit the report to the relevant Congressional House Subcommittee. Later, they would mark it up as a line item requesting funding when the Appropriations Committee debated its annual bills. Congress rarely voted down spending line items, so armed with the new funds, the federal senior manager would commission even more work, expand his department, and get promoted in the process.
For spending taxpayer money for the nation's so-called good, the average federal government employee enjoys a host of benefits not available to those who toil in the private sector. Until the Trump administration began laying people off or offering buyouts, the average federal employee never needed to worry about job security. Federal workers also enjoy competitive salaries, with regular raises based on performance and tenure.
Benefits include health insurance, dental and vision coverage, and life insurance. Workers can access the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), which consists of a defined pension, Social Security, and a Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) with employer matching. Generous leave policies include vacation, sick leave, and 11 federal holidays annually. Many roles offer flexible schedules, telework options, and family-friendly policies like parental leave. There are numerous opportunities for training, promotions, and career mobility within the federal system. Eligible employees may qualify for student loan forgiveness through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) after 10 years of qualifying payments. Strong workplace protections are coded into federal law, including anti-discrimination policies.
Federal employee unions are clearly not fighting a greedy employer from the early 1900s who abused his workforce with low pay, substandard and unsafe working conditions, and had an upper hand in all negotiations, given that it was a zero-sum game. Then, every concession that a worker elicited from the greedy employer came out of the employer's pocket.
The jarring set of questions from most people in the private sector is: "Why does a federal employee even need a union? What additional collective bargaining agreements do federal employees need when most jobs are secure, raises are codified, and discrimination is punishable by law?" The average voter's incredulity rises when this realization sets in: Federal employee unions are fighting government bosses who are also paid by the taxpayer and have nothing to lose to grant union demands. All the government bosses have to do is request more appropriations from Congress and get them. After all, everyone on Capitol Hill is also paid by the taxpayer.
Federal employees have become greedy over time. In the 1990s, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) secured its first victory against Social Security Administration (SSA) managers. The agreement allowed SSA employees to formally challenge workplace decisions, such as unfair discipline, performance evaluations, or denial of promotions. Private sector employees, try advocating for these concessions from your boss. The agreement also cemented "Weingarten rights" so that SSA employees could have an AFSCME representative present to advocate on their behalf, and the taxpayer would pay for the representatives' "official time" for union stewards to prepare and represent employees.
It is little wonder that our federal government has become so bloated - our annual deficits exceed $2 trillion, and our total debt is $36 trillion.
Along comes President Trump with a mandate to take some fat off of Washington. The unions fight every step, and the federal courts grant the unions relief, freezing Trump from acting.
Welcome to America.
Rajkamal Rao is a columnist and a member of the tippinsights editorial board. He is an American entrepreneur and wrote the WorldView column for the Hindu BusinessLine, India's second-largest financial newspaper, on the economy, politics, immigration, foreign affairs, and sports.
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