The Federal Labor Relations Authority says it cannot decide Trump-era union cases from excluded agencies. That ruling pushes challenges to Executive Order 14251 into federal district court instead of the labor board. The Authority is the federal labor board.
It administers Chapter 71, the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute. President Trump issued Executive Order 14251 on March 27, 2025, to exclude about 40 agencies and subdivisions from that law on national-security grounds. The order affected about one million workers at DoD, VA, DOJ, DHS, EPA and other listed agencies.
Table of Contents
- What did the FLRA decide at Twentynine Palms?
- Why does this keep union challenges in court?
- What does the ruling not decide?
- What should affected workers check now?
What did the FLRA decide at Twentynine Palms?
In a 2-1 decision on September 22, 2026, the Authority dismissed the Marine Corps appeal of an arbitration award at Twentynine Palms, California. It held it lacked jurisdiction because Executive Order 14251 excludes the Defense Department from the labor statute. Government Executive reported the vote and dismissal in its FLRA ruling analysis.
That holding is narrow. It resolves only where the case can be heard, not whether the exclusion itself is lawful. A later order widened the list. Executive Order 14343, issued August 28, 2025, extended exclusions to NASA, the National Weather Service and the Patent and Trademark Office.
Why does this keep union challenges in court?
The Ninth Circuit reached the same practical result in AFGE v. Trump. FedSmith explained that ruling in its review of FLRA jurisdiction and court access. Because the order removed affected employees from Chapter 71, the court said the Authority process is not the exclusive route for challenges.
That matters because the Justice Department had argued the opposite exhaustion rule in other workforce cases. Those cases included the NTEU probationary-employee and reduction-in-force litigation. The Catherwood Library at Cornell described how Judge Christopher Cooper ruled courts likely lacked jurisdiction there and claims belonged before the Authority. Unions can now point to the Authority's own denial to answer "go to the Authority first" defenses. The denial supports keeping Executive Order challenges in district court.
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What does the ruling not decide?
The Twentynine Palms dismissal does not decide whether Executive Order 14251 is valid. It also cannot itself be used to appeal that validity question. The reason is procedural.
Under 5 U.S.C. Section 7123(a)(1), Authority orders involving an arbitrator's award are unreviewable unless they involve an unfair labor practice. So workers and unions should not treat this dismissal as a win or loss on the merits. The legality fight must happen in a separate court case.
What should affected workers check now?
Contract survival still depends on separate agency-by-agency injunctions. FedTools tracks those separate orders for VA, BOP, EPA and DoD in its agency-by-agency union contract tracker.
Readers with a stake in one of these cases can take practical steps: A Defense Department employee, for example, falls under the exclusion addressed at Twentynine Palms. A Patent Office employee falls under the later extension. Both need the court rulings for their own agencies.
- Identify whether your agency or subdivision is listed under Executive Order 14251 or the later extension.
- Follow the district-court challenge that covers your agency, not just Authority decisions.
- Check whether an injunction still preserves your specific contract while the broader fight continues.
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