UNITED STATES
An attempt by United States President Donald Trump to enforce reforms on the Public Service through Executive Orders has hit a further roadblock in the courts.
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied the Government’s motion to immediately lift the injunction on the Executive Orders which deal with collective bargaining, work times and employee removals.
Lawyers for the Government wanted the court to lift the injunction after the three-judge panel overturned an August 2018 decision from a Federal District Court which had invalidated nine key provisions of Mr Trump’s Executive Orders.
However, in doing so the Appeals Court did not formally lift the injunction on the workforce executive orders.
Government lawyers argued the delay in enforcing the President’s Executive Orders had an immediate impact on collective bargaining negotiations under way at a number of Agencies.
Employee unions said the Administration didn’t show ‘good cause’ that allowing the injunction to continue presented an ‘unusual’ impact on the public, military or national security.
They argued that an environment without the Executive Orders simply preserved the status quo that had been in place since 1978.
National President of the American Federation of Government Employees, J. David Cox said the court’s decision was right.
“The Government provided no good reason for the court to dissolve the injunction prematurely and speed up the Administration’s efforts to violate the law and send the Federal workforce into disarray,” Mr Cox said.
“This is a vitally important case that the court should rehear.”
Washington, 17 August, 2019
