US judge nixes Treasury's bid to cancel IRS workers' union contract
Source: Reuters
May 21, 2025 8:58 AM EDT Updated 5 hours ago
May 21 (Reuters) - A federal judge has rejected a bid by the U.S. Treasury Department to cancel a union contract covering tens of thousands of IRS staff, an early blow to President Donald Trump's efforts to eliminate collective bargaining rights for many federal workers.
U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves in Lexington, Kentucky, said in a written opinion late Tuesday that the department lacked legal standing to bring a lawsuit against the National Treasury Employees Union. After Trump issued an executive order exempting Treasury and other agencies from union bargaining obligations, the agency sued an affiliate of the NTEU that represents Internal Revenue Service employees, to invalidate a bargaining agreement reached in 2022.
Reeves, an appointee of Republican former President George W. Bush, dismissed the case, saying the lawsuit was premature because Treasury had not yet taken any steps to implement Trump's order. "This decision says nothing of the merits of the case," the judge wrote. "Had Treasury filed suit in response to an invasion or threatened invasion of its sovereign right to enforce [Trump's order], a different result likely would have been reached."
A U.S. appeals court last week paused a ruling by a judge in Washington, D.C., that had blocked seven agencies including Treasury from implementing Trump's order in a lawsuit by the NTEU. The White House, the Treasury Department and the NTEU did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-judge-nixes-treasurys-bid-cancel-irs-workers-union-contract-2025-05-21/
Link to ORDER (PDF) - https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.kyed.107931/gov.uscourts.kyed.107931.32.0.pdf
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