President Donald Trump signed a memo nullifying last-minute collective bargaining agreements issued by the Biden administration before leaving office. The directive instructs federal agencies to reject these agreements and prevents new ones from being established during the final 30 days of a president’s term.
According to the White House, these agreements were an attempt to limit Trump’s ability to implement his policies, citing specific deals from the Department of Education, the Small Business Administration, and the Federal Trade Commission. One notable agreement, reached in December 2024 between Biden’s Social Security Administration and the American Federation of Government Employees, covered 42,000 federal workers.
The Trump administration argues that these agreements were designed to lock in policies rejected by voters and restrict efforts to return government employees to in-office work for efficiency. The memo ensures federal agencies follow private-sector standards for labor agreements.
Additionally, the White House Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has directed agencies to enforce a return-to-office policy. Federal employees must work in person full-time unless they qualify for a medical exemption. Employees who refuse to return have until February 6 to resign while receiving full pay and benefits until September 30. However, this option excludes postal workers, military immigration officials, national security personnel, and other exempt positions.
