Several Republicans joined their Democratic colleagues in voting Thursday to block President Donald Trump from stripping federal workers of their union rights, a rare bipartisan rebuke of the White House by the Republican-controlled House.
The measure, put forth by Reps. Jared Golden (D-Maine) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), would undo an executive order Trump signed earlier this year nullifying collective bargaining agreements covering up to 1 million workers. It passed, 231 to 195, with 20 Republicans in support.
The legislation is unlikely to go anywhere in the GOP-controlled Senate, but its success in the House shows some moderate Republicans don’t support Trump’s unprecedented union-busting at federal agencies.
One of those lawmakers, Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.), told reporters ahead of the vote that Republicans should lean into being more populist. He noted that typical union members are “people that love America” and “people that love hard work” — and that a lot of them are Republicans.
“We should not be the party of ‘no,’ the party of take away, the party that hurts people,” Van Drew said.
