The American Federation of Government Employees has fought the Trump administration’s federal return-to-office mandate on two tracks: contract arbitrations at individual agencies, and federal lawsuits challenging the executive order that stripped collective bargaining rights from nearly a million workers. The AFGE telework lawsuit effort has produced arbitration wins at the Social Security Administration, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, all finding that agencies violated their contracts by canceling telework without bargaining. Almost none of those wins have actually put federal employees back on telework. Appeals, contract terminations, and an executive order designating agencies as national security work have kept the rulings tied up or made them unenforceable.
What the Lawsuits Are Challenging
On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed a memorandum ordering executive branch agencies to “terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis” as soon as practicable.1The White House. Return to In-Person Work Agency heads could grant exemptions, and the memo said it must be carried out “consistent with applicable law.”
That last phrase is where AFGE built its case. Many federal employees had telework written into collective bargaining agreements between their unions and their agencies. AFGE’s position is that a presidential memorandum cannot override statutory bargaining rights or the terms of an existing contract, and that agency-wide telework cancellations are unfair labor practices under 5 U.S.C. ยง 7116.2AFGE. Major AFGE Win as Arbitrator Orders SSA to Reinstate Telework Agencies moved forward anyway, in many cases ending telework without negotiating.
The SSA Arbitration Ruling
The Social Security Administration suspended telework for AFGE bargaining unit employees effective March 16, 2025. Then-acting Commissioner Leland Dudek told union officials the suspension was intended to last 90 days, but it became open-ended with no defined return date.3Federal News Network. SSA Appeals Arbitrator’s Order to Restore Telework for Its Employees AFGE filed a national grievance on March 25, 2025.4AFGE Local 1395. AFGE Telework Grievance Update
The SSA’s 2019 National Agreement, revised in November 2024 to protect workplace flexibility through at least 2029, gave management “sole discretion to temporarily change, reduce, or suspend approved telework.” AFGE argued the key word was “temporarily,” and that an indefinite suspension was not a temporary pause but an outright elimination of telework rights.5Federal News Network. Social Security Ordered to Restore Telework; EPA and NASA Roll Back Collective Bargaining
Arbitrator Sarah Miller Espinosa agreed. Her March 11, 2026 ruling found that the SSA “clearly” violated and unlawfully repudiated the telework provisions of the contract. “By definition, temporary and indefinite are not synonymous,” Espinosa wrote, calling the agency’s actions a “clear and patent breach” and noting the SSA had “presented no testimony or persuasive documentary evidence” establishing how long the suspension would last. She ordered telework restored to pre-March 2025 levels and required the agency to post notice of the violation at all work locations.6Government Executive. Arbitrator Orders Restoration of Telework at Social Security7AFGE Local 1395. AFGE Telework Arbitration Award
The SSA said it “strongly disagrees” and appealed to the Federal Labor Relations Authority. While that appeal is pending, the agency is not required to comply with the arbitrator’s order. Telework has not been restored.3Federal News Network. SSA Appeals Arbitrator’s Order to Restore Telework for Its Employees
The HUD Arbitration Ruling
AFGE Council 222, representing roughly 7,000 bargaining unit employees at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, won a similar case weeks earlier. HUD had directed employees on January 24, 2025 to end regular telework and report full-time by February 24, 2025, without negotiating with the union. The contract permitted telework up to four days per week and required any change to be negotiated before implementation.8AFGE. AFGE Win as Arbitrator Rules HUD Violated Contract by Cancelling Telework
On February 18, 2026, Arbitrator Michael T. Loconto ruled HUD violated both its contract and the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute. He found that the presidential memorandum did not override the agency’s statutory bargaining obligations and ordered HUD to reinstate all telework agreements in place on January 20, 2025, reimburse employees for increased commuting and dependent-care costs, and post notices acknowledging the violations. The arbitrator retained jurisdiction for 90 days to resolve any disputes over implementation.9AFGE Council 222. AFGE Council 222 v. HUD Arbitration Award
EPA and CMS Rulings
At the EPA, AFGE Council 238 filed grievances in February 2025 challenging the withdrawal of telework and remote work agreements. An arbitrator ruled on December 12, 2025 that the EPA violated its contract by rescinding those agreements without notice or an opportunity to negotiate, finding the union “fully justified” in its demands.10AFGE Council 238. Union’s Telework and Remote Work Grievances Move Forward on the Papers The ruling became effectively unenforceable. The EPA had terminated its collective bargaining agreement in August 2025 under an executive order designating the agency as performing national security work, and the agency considers the arbitration decision non-binding.11Federal News Network. Despite EPA Violation of Union Contract, Ruling Can’t Be Enforced
At the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, an arbitrator ruled that CMS violated its statutory obligation to bargain with AFGE over the return-to-office implementation. The arbitrator found CMS was not required to negotiate the mandate itself but was obligated to negotiate the effects on employees’ work-life balance, and ordered the agency to meet with AFGE on those effects.12Federal News Network. Trump’s Return-to-Office Memo Doesn’t Override Telework Protections in Union Contract, Arbitrator Tells HHS
The Executive Order Behind the Enforcement Problem
On March 27, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14251, designating more than a dozen agencies as performing national security work and stripping collective bargaining rights from over 950,000 federal employees. An August 28, 2025 expansion added NASA, NOAA, the National Weather Service, and the U.S. Agency for Global Media, among others.5Federal News Network. Social Security Ordered to Restore Telework; EPA and NASA Roll Back Collective Bargaining OPM directed covered agencies to stop participating in negotiated grievance procedures and terminate their contracts.
AFGE and five partner unions sued in AFGE v. Trump (No. 3:25-cv-03070), filed April 3, 2025, in the Northern District of California, alleging First Amendment retaliation, viewpoint discrimination, and due process violations. Judge James Donato granted a preliminary injunction on June 24, 2025, blocking enforcement. The Ninth Circuit stayed that injunction on August 1, 2025, and vacated it entirely on February 26, 2026, ruling the unions had not demonstrated a likelihood of success on their retaliation claim. The panel confirmed that district courts have jurisdiction to hear the underlying challenge, and AFGE has indicated it is considering further review while returning to the district court to litigate the merits.13Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. American Federation of Government Employees v. Trump14AFGE. Summary of AFGE Lawsuits Against Trump
The practical effect for telework cases is direct. Where an agency’s contract has been terminated under the national security designation, arbitration wins like the one at the EPA cannot be enforced. The telework provisions unions relied on exist inside those contracts.
The VA Contract Fight
The Department of Veterans Affairs, which employs over 320,000 AFGE-represented workers, became a central battleground when VA Secretary Doug Collins terminated the master collective bargaining agreement on August 6, 2025, citing Executive Order 14251. AFGE sued, and on March 13, 2026, U.S. District Court Judge Melissa DuBose issued a preliminary injunction ordering the VA to reinstate the agreement, finding the termination likely violated the First Amendment and the Administrative Procedure Act.15AFGE. AFGE Asks Judge to Force VA to Comply With Court Order Restoring Union Contract
The VA re-terminated the contract on March 26, 2026, appearing to try to render the court order moot. Judge DuBose ruled the re-termination had “no force or effect.” AFGE filed a motion to compel compliance on March 20, 2026, alleging the VA had “made no genuine efforts to reinstate the contract” and continued to deny employees parental leave, grievance rights, and disciplinary protections.16Federal News Network. VA Restores AFGE Labor Contract but Isn’t Implementing It, Court Documents Show
The VA appealed to the First Circuit, which denied the agency’s emergency motion to stay the injunction in May 2026. A unanimous three-judge panel led by Chief Judge David Barron found the administration failed to make a “strong showing” it was likely to succeed on appeal, noting that the VA’s own five-month delay in terminating the contract undercut its argument that the agreements were unworkable.17Government Executive. Appeals Court Upholds Order Reinstating VA’s Union Contracts The VA continues to hold internal labor-management processes in abeyance while litigation proceeds.18Federal News Network. Federal Appeals Court Keeps Union Contract for 300K VA Employees in Place Amid Lawsuit
Disability Accommodation Telework Cases
The mandate has produced a separate line of litigation for federal employees who used telework as a reasonable accommodation for a disability. At the CDC, HHS released a revised telework policy in August 2025 that excluded telework as an accommodation option, and CDC leadership moved to stop approving or renewing long-term telework for employees with disabilities. AFGE Locals 2883 and 3840 called it “the most sweeping civil rights violation against federal employees in decades.” The CDC eventually paused the new rule pending legal review.19AFGE. CDC Removes Remote Work as Reasonable Accommodation for Employees With Disabilities, Backtracks After Union Pressure
In June 2026, Democracy Forward filed a class-action lawsuit, Panian et al. v. Blanche, against the Department of Justice alleging a “systematic, agency-wide practice” of refusing telework as a reasonable accommodation. The complaint argues the DOJ’s return-to-office policy violates the Rehabilitation Act. Two of the named plaintiffs had held approved telework accommodations for years before they were denied under the new mandate.20Government Executive. Lawsuit Claims DOJ Retaliating Against Employees With Disabilities Who Request Telework
Where Things Stand for Federal Workers
AFGE has filed more than a dozen federal lawsuits against the Trump administration spanning telework, collective bargaining, mass layoffs, and agency restructuring.14AFGE. Summary of AFGE Lawsuits Against Trump The telework-specific fights remain largely unresolved. The SSA appeal sits before the FLRA. The EPA ruling is unenforceable. The VA contract is technically reinstated but functionally ignored. The Ninth Circuit’s February 2026 decision vacating the injunction against Executive Order 14251 was a significant setback, though the underlying case is still being litigated. For the hundreds of thousands of federal employees who lost telework in early 2025, AFGE’s legal campaign has so far produced more precedent than practical relief.