{"id":13029,"date":"2018-07-26T20:56:14","date_gmt":"2018-07-26T20:56:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/07\/26\/administration-and-unions-battle-in-court-over-executive-orders\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:35:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:35:17","slug":"administration-and-unions-battle-in-court-over-executive-orders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/2018\/07\/26\/administration-and-unions-battle-in-court-over-executive-orders\/","title":{"rendered":"Administration and unions battle in court over executive orders"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 Lawyers representing federal labor unions accused the Trump administration of trying to \u201cweaponize\u201d executive power and \u201cdestroy\u201d collective bargaining during a July 25 U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia hearing. Meanwhile, a Department of Justice legal team dismissed the claims as \u201ceasily dispatched\u201d and described the acts as well within constitutional limits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hearing came after public sector unions sued over three executive orders <\/a>issued in May under the auspices of improving government efficiency but seen by many to be anti-union. Unions claimed the effort to reform the use of official time,<\/a> or time spent during the workday by federal employees on union duties and activities such as filing grievances, was \u201cto shut down labor organizations.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the heart of the case lay a debate over executive authority: Did the president\u2019s orders overstep boundaries and conflict with a decades-old congressional statute?<\/p>\n\n\n\t