Overview

• The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals suspended Judge James Donato’s injunction, permitting the administration to enforce Trump’s March order exempting 21 agencies from collective bargaining.
• The panel majority ruled the order’s national security exemption did not express retaliatory animus and agreed the president would have acted irrespective of union lawsuits.
• The executive order extends existing exemptions to agencies with primary intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security functions, affecting about 75% of unionized federal workers.
• The American Federation of Government Employees said it will continue its appeal and remains confident of ultimately prevailing in court.
• The decision follows conflicting injunctions and stays across federal appeals courts, highlighting the clash over executive authority and statutory labor protections.