Below is a quick summary of the ongoing NTEU suits 

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​Update as of 1/27/26:

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HHS Employees’ Class Action Challenge to Improper RIFs
NEW: On June 3, 2025, a group of HHS employees filed a suit challenging the RIFs issued by the agency on April 1, 2025. The RIFs were challenged as improper because they relied on inaccurate personnel records and illegal because those records were shared with DOGE, OPM, and OMB in violation of the Privacy Act. In a January 22, 2026 opinion, the court found that the employees’ case could proceed against the agencies. The employees are attempting to certify a class of all HHS employees who received April 1 RIF notices. The court has asked both parties to brief the class action issue in the coming months.
 
NTEU’s Challenge to Firings at CFPB             
UPDATE: The full appeals court has agreed to hear NTEU’s argument on whether mass layoffs are permitted at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A hearing has been scheduled for February 24, 2026. In the meantime, the lower court’s preliminary injunction order remains largely in effect. In response to NTEU’s and our legal partners’ request, the district court clarified on December 30 that mass layoffs are blocked even if the agency refuses to request operating funds. Acting CFPB Director Vought then requested funding from the Federal Reserve for the Bureau’s operations and confirmed to the court on January 15 2026 that funding had been received. (Read more.) 
 
NTEU Sues Over FOIA Violation  
UPDATE: NTEU filed a lawsuit on November 14 because the administration has failed to disclose lists of federal positions to be moved to Schedule Policy/Career, as required by the Freedom of Information Act. The government filed its answer on December 15. OPM is to finish its processing of responsive records by February 27, 2026.

Mass Exclusions Executive Orders             
As of today, the executive orders removing about a dozen federal agencies from coverage of the labor statute are in effect, including at NTEU-represented agencies. As we continue to fight the President’s unlawful action, dues withholding may continue to start and stop. Your membership will not be terminated while litigation continues, and we fight to restore dues withholding.      

NTEU’s Challenge to March 27 Order Excluding Barg. Units          
An appellate court heard arguments December 15, 2025, on whether to reinstate the preliminary injunction and restore union rights. The appeal was argued along with similar lawsuits filed by the Federal Education Association (FEA) and the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) with NTEU as the lead case. The court ordered the parties to submit additional briefs on some threshold questions. NTEU submitted its supplemental brief in early January 2026. The lower court case is paused pending the appellate court’s decision. (Read more.)  

NTEU’s Challenge to August 28 Order Excluding Barg. Units       
NTEU is challenging the order that strips union rights from employees in the Office of the Commissioner for Patents within the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The court has paused this case pending the DC Circuit Court’s decision in the appeal regarding the broader Exclusions Executive Order. (Read more).    

Challenges to Barg. Unit Exclusions in DC             
Pending the DC Circuit Court’s decision, all of the lower cases in DC that were brought to challenge the order stripping union rights are paused. These cases include those brought by the AFSA, FEA, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the National Weather Service Employees Organization, the International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations.

AFGE’s Challenge to Barg. Unit Exclusions              
UPDATE: The order stripping union rights from certain AFGE-represented employees remains in effect while the appeals court in California considers an injunction to block it. Oral argument before the appeals court was heard on January 12. 

CFPB Dismantling      

Nonprofits Demand CFPB Obtain Funding 
UPDATE: Several nonprofit consumer groups filed a lawsuit in federal court in California on December 5 challenging CFPB’s decision not to seek operational funds from the Federal Reserve. This case complements NTEU’s, above. The consumer groups asked the court to grant summary judgment and rule that CFPB is required by law to request funds on an ongoing basis. The government has argued that because the Bureau is currently funded, the court should grant summary judgment to end the case as moot.
 
Shutdown RIFs      
      
NTEU Joins Challenge to Shutdown RIFs      
A judge granted the unions’ request for a preliminary injunction blocking reductions-in-force during the government shutdown. The unions’ request for additional protection was also granted on December 15, extending the ban on RIFs through the end of January. The order declared that any RIF notices sent between October 1 and November 12 are invalid and must be rescinded.

DEI Firings 

ACLU Files Class Action Over DEI Firings 
The ACLU on December 3 filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of federal employees who were fired based on their work related to diversity, equity and inclusion programs. 
 
Mass Firings of Probationary Employees & RIFs             
    
NTEU's Challenge to Mass Firings & RIFs              
We await a decision on the government’s motion to dismiss the case. (Read more.)     

AFGE’s Challenge to Mass Probationary Firings              
The judge sided with AFGE and found that the Office of Personnel Management unlawfully ordered mass firings of probationary employees across multiple agencies and directed most defendant-agencies to correct personnel records and clarify that the employees were not removed based on their job performance. The government has appealed.    

AFGE’s Challenge to Mass RIFs              
A lower court blocked RIFs at many agencies, but the Supreme Court stayed that order. The government responded to the amended complaint on December 15.  This case is pending before the same court as the unions’ shutdown RIF case. 
   
States’ Challenge to Mass Firings at HHS         
The preliminary injunction blocking the mass firings remains in place while the government appeals. The states are opposing the government’s motion to dismiss the case.     
 
Civil Service Protection    
   
NTEU’s Challenge to Schedule Policy/Career    
NTEU filed a lawsuit on January 20 challenging the executive order to reclassify federal employees with the goal of removing their due process rights. On June 26, the parties agreed to pause the case until OPM has published a final rule rescinding certain pro-employee regulations. The administration has represented that no federal employees will be reclassified until after that rulemaking is complete.