President Donald Trump issued a late-Thursday executive order targeting union rights at six federal agencies, including NASA and the National Weather Service, according to a report from the source. The move escalates a months-long legal and political fight over collective bargaining in the federal workforce, following a March order that sought to strip rights from hundreds of thousands of government employees. A federal judge had blocked the earlier action, but the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals later allowed it to proceed, with the circuit now weighing an en banc rehearing.

The six agencies singled out in Trump's latest order

The executive order specifically targets collective bargaining units at the Bureau of Reclamation's hydropower facilities, NASA, the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, the National Weather Service, the Patent and Trademark Office, and the U.S. Agency for Global Media... each agency plays a role in national security or public safety, the administration argued, justifying the revocation of union rights.. The source notes that the list mixes scientific agencies like NOAA's satellite service with intellectual property and media entities, marking a broad yet targeted sweep.

This is not the first time Trump has taken aim at these specific units. The March order similarly covered many of the same categories, but the new version adds explicit mention of the Bureau of Reclamation's hydropower operations, a key component of Western water and energy infrastructure.

The legal whiplash: from injunction to appeal to possible rehearing

The March order, which attempted to strip collective bargaining rights from hundreds of thousands of federal workers, was initially blocked by a federal judge. However, a panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later allowed the measure to go into effect while litigation continues, according to the source. on Monday, the 9th Circuit announced it would decide whether to rehear the case before a full panel, leaving the fate of the order in limbo.

Government agencies were instructed not to terminate collective bargaining agreements while the legal battle plays out, but some have already begun doing so, the source reports. This creates a patchwork of compliance across the federal workforce, with unionized employees at some agencies protected and others already losing coverage.

What happens to unions while the courts decide?

A critical open question is how aggressively agencies will act before the 9th Circuit issues its final ruling. The source states that the administration has urged agencies to move quickly, and some have already ended agreements despite the court's temporary instructions.. The pace of these terminations could leave thousands of federal employees without union representation for weeks or months, even if the courts ultimately strike down the order.

Adding to the uncertainty, the administration has offered no clear timeline for implementation at the newly targeted agencies. The union representing affected workers has vowed to challenge the new order in court, but as of the source's report, no new legal filing has been made.

A pattern of narrowing collective bargaining across the federal workforce

The March order was the first major salvo in Trump's push to shrink the scope of federal collective bargaining.. That earlier effort targeted broad swaths of the federal workforce, citing national security and efficiency concerns. The new order narrows the focus, but its cumulative effect, if upheld, would be to eliminate union rights for tens of thousands of employees at the listed agencies.

This pattern echoes a longer history of executive actions limiting federal union power under previous administrations, though none have been as sweeping. The source notes that the legal challenges from labor groups are ongoing, and the outcome could set a precedent for future presidential encroachment on federal employee protections.