Published Jul 6, 2026, 1:10 PM EDT
The lawsuit filed July 6 includes more than 20 union affiliates and focuses on the secretary's memo from earlier this year.
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Published Jul 6, 2026, 1:10 PM EDT
Numerous union affiliates have sued the Department of Defense, alleging that a memorandum issued earlier this year by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was unlawful and directed the termination of hundreds of union contracts nationwide. The lawsuit was filed on July 6 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland by more than 20 union affiliates of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE-IAM), all of whom argue that Hegseth's actions carried out through an April 9, 2026, memo violated the Administrative Procedure Act in multiple ways—including terminations purportedly not based on reasoned decision-making required by law and misinterpreted based on the executive order in which they were derived. Plaintiffs representing bargaining units comprised of tens of thousands of civilian DOD employees nationwide argue that hardworking federal employees, including veterans and members of military families, lost union rights for purposes of collective bargaining that they have had for 50-plus years across multiple presidential administrations and during wartime and peacetime alike.
