Judge Temporarily Blocks Homeland Security From Ending Collective Bargaining for TSA Agents

The union alleged it was the subject of retaliation because it had filed litigation in response to actions by the Trump administration.

A TSA officer checks travel documents at Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Va., Nov. 25, 2015. Win McNamee/Getty Images

A federal judge on June 2 temporarily blocked the Department of Homeland Security from ending collective bargaining for Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents, concluding the government likely acted improperly as retaliation against a union for challenging Trump administration moves.

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) “has demonstrated a strong likelihood that the Noem Determination constitutes impermissible retaliation against it for its unwillingness to acquiesce to the Trump Administration’s assault on federal workers,” U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman said in a 41-page filing.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in March issued a determination that barred TSA officers from engaging in collective bargaining.

The determination also canceled a collective bargaining agreement that AFGE and the TSA entered into in 2024.

Pechman said the agreement stated that its seven-year duration could only be changed “upon mutual written consent of the parties,” and the union did not agree to the cancellation.

“AFGE has shown the Noem Determination likely violates Due Process, having afforded no notice or process for AFGE and its members to work with [the government] to resolve any disagreement before simply shredding the [agreement’s] contractual promises,” the judge wrote. “And AFGE has shown it is likely to succeed in showing the Noem Determination is arbitrary and capricious in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, particularly given its complete disregard for the 2024 CBA and its mischaracterization of AFGE’s role.”

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told The Epoch Times via email that the injunction “is yet another undue hurdle activist judges are using to undermine the President’s constitutionally vested Article II powers.”

It added: “Ending Collective Bargaining for TSA’s Transportation Security Officers ensures Americans will have a more effective and modernized workforce across the nation’s transportation networks, leading to greater security and safety. The Trump Administration is committed to returning to merit-based hiring and firing policies, and that commitment has not changed.”

AFGE, which has not yet reacted to the ruling, had said in its lawsuit that the purported termination of the agreement “flies in the face of one of the most hallowed principles of the American political system—the sanctity of contracts.” The union also alleged it was the subject of retaliation because it had filed litigation in response to actions by the Trump administration.

In 2011, then-TSA administrator John Pistole decided to permit collective bargaining after discovering poor morale among TSA employees. Officers had been allowed to unionize until Noem made her recent determination.

Of about 47,000 officers, nearly 26,000 are members of AFGE, according to court filings.