The Solidarity Docket
June 25, 2026
A federal district court in California has signaled it will deny a preliminary injunction in the FEMA reduction-in-force case and proceed directly to summary judgment, and the Ninth Circuit has issued the mandate finalizing the vacatur of the injunction against the collective bargaining executive order. A coalition of unions has asked the First Circuit to force a ruling on the federal hiring loyalty question. We also cover committee action on Defense Department bargaining rights, a dispute over telework accommodations at the National Science Foundation, two upcoming webinars, and the deadline to comment on OPM's proposed non-disclosure agreement rule.
FEMA RIF Litigation Updates
A federal district court in the Northern District of California indicated this week that it will deny the unions' request for a preliminary injunction in American Federation of Government Employees v. Trump (No. 3:25-cv-03698), the litigation over reductions in force at the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The court will instead decide the FEMA question on summary judgment. As we previewed last week, the court heard the plaintiffs' preliminary injunction motion and the government's motion to dismiss at the same proceeding.
The court gave tentative rulings on the motion to dismiss, on the discovery dispute over the plaintiffs' request for production, and on the preliminary injunction. On the injunction, the court indicated that it would deny the motion and move immediately to summary judgment. In practical terms, denying the injunction means the unions will not obtain an order pausing the FEMA staffing reductions while the case proceeds. Moving to summary judgment means the court will decide the merits of the FEMA claims on the existing record, on an accelerated timeline.
According to the court'scivil minutes, the court will treat the plaintiffs' supplemental injunction papers as their motion for summary judgment and has set an expedited schedule.The court will hear the summary judgment motions and the related discovery dispute on August 28. The court also referred the case to a magistrate judge for an early settlement conference.
What remains unresolved is the merits of the FEMA claims themselves, which the court will now take up directly. A ruling on the cross-motions will follow the August 28 hearing, and the parties will pursue settlement on a parallel track in the meantime. We will continue to follow the case on ourLitigation Tracker.
Unions Ask Court to Force a Ruling on the Federal Hiring Loyalty Question
A coalition of federal unions has asked a federal appeals court to order a lower court to rule on their challenge to the hiring essay questions that critics describe as a loyalty test for federal job applicants. On June 15, the American Federation of Government Employees, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and the National Association of Government Employees filed a petition for a writ of mandamus with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, asking it to direct the district court to decide their pending injunction motion. A writ of mandamus is an order from a higher court directing a lower court to take an action.
The unions sued OPM in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts in November 2025, arguing that the hiring questions compel applicants to speak on political matters and chill the speech of those who would prefer to remain silent, in violation of the First Amendment.
Briefing on the unions' injunction motion was complete by December 10, and the court held a hearing on March 11. No decision has issued in the three months since. Government Executive counted the essay questions on nearly 48,000 postings.
What remains unresolved is both the injunction motion, now before the district court, and the First Circuit's response to the mandamus petition. Neither court has ruled.
Ninth Circuit Issues Mandate in the Collective Bargaining Executive Order Case
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has finalized its decision allowing President Trump’s collective bargaining executive order to take effect. On June 17, inAmerican Federation of Government Employees v. Trump (No. 25-4014), the panel amended its February opinion, barred any petition for rehearing, and directed that its order serve as the mandate. The mandate is the order that ends the appeal and returns the case to the district court.
This ruling addressed only preliminary relief. The unions' remaining claims, including the argument that the order exceeds the President's statutory authority, are still pending in the district court.
NDAA Battle Over DoD Bargaining Rights
The two chambers of Congress are again split over collective bargaining for Defense Department civilians in the annual defense bill. On June 4, the House Armed Services Committeeadopted, 30 to 26, a bipartisan amendment from Rep. Donald Norcross that would block the 2025 executive order stripping collective bargaining rights from federal workers, including Pentagon civilians. The committee also rejected an amendment that would have lifted the longstanding moratorium on contracting out federal jobs under OMB Circular A-76, so that moratorium stays in place. The full committee approved its bill 44 to 12, and the House is expected to take it up before the July recess.
Meanwhile, the Senate Armed Services Committee marked up its own version in mid-June, and that bill does not include the Defense Department bargaining protections. The two versions will have to be reconciled before a final bill can pass.
This is a repeat of last year. The House included the same restoration in its fiscal 2026 defense bill, and it was dropped from the final negotiated text.
NSF Headquarters Move Used to Strip Telework Accommodations
Employees at the National Science Foundation say the agency is using its headquarters relocation to revoke telework that workers with disabilities rely on as a reasonable accommodation. Intestimonials provided by AFGE Local 3403, which represents federal research staff, workers describe unclear guidance, proposed alternatives that do not meet their medical needs, delayed responses from human resources, and fear of retaliation.
The legal backdrop is the Rehabilitation Act, which requires agencies to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities unless doing so would impose an undue hardship. When the administration ended most telework at the start of 2025, it exempted employees who telework under such an accommodation. Employees at other agencies have raised similar concerns, and a lawsuit filed earlier this year alleges that the Department of Justice retaliated against employees with disabilities who requested telework.
These are employee accounts, and the agency disputes the characterization. We note them because reasonable accommodation denials are among the issues federal workers bring to our clinics, and workers who believe an accommodation has been wrongly denied or revoked cansign up for a free legal consultation.
Upcoming Webinars
Rise Up has two webinars on the calendar coming up. Both are geared toward volunteer attorneys but are open to practitioners and federal workers as well.
On Tuesday, June 30 at 12:00 p.m. ET, Executive Director Laura Padin and I will host a question-and-answer session with Peter Broida, a Rise Up advisory board member and a practicing federal labor law attorney who literally writes the book(s) on federal employment and labor law. The session will run in a facilitated format, with Mr. Broida answering pre-submitted and live questions about navigating the MSPB process pro se. You canregister here andsubmit questions in advance here.
On Wednesday, July 8 at 12:00 p.m. ET, our friend Raymond Limon returns to meet with our Volunteer Lawyer Corps for an update on the latest developments at the MSPB, how the Board is functioning, and where litigants should be taking their cases. You canregister here.
Looking Ahead
The comment period on OPM's proposed governmentwide non-disclosure agreement closes this week. Comments can be submitted until Friday June 26 at Regulations.gov under Docket No. OPM-2026-0100.
We are also watching the D.C. Circuit, where the consolidated challenge to the national security collective bargaining order, argued in December, has now gone more than six months without a decision. It remains the most consequential outstanding ruling for the federal workforce.
In the FEMA case, summary judgment briefing runs through August 7, with argument set for August 28, while the parties pursue settlement in the meantime. And in Congress, the House is expected to vote on the defense authorization bill before the July recess, with the fate of the Defense Department bargaining provision to be settled later in conference with the Senate.
We will continue to track these cases and more!
In Solidarity,
Suzanne Summerlin
General Counsel,
Rise Up: Federal Workers Legal Defense Network
