Posts tagged National Defense Authorization Act
New Jersey’s GOP congressmen make rare break with Trump on collective bargaining
December 15, 2025 // New Jersey is one of the nation’s most heavily unionized states, and the state’s powerful unions frequently support politicians of both parties. Smith and Van Drew have received backing from the New Jersey AFL-CIO in recent re-election campaigns; during Kean’s 2024 campaign, meanwhile, the AFL-CIO chose to stay out of the race, which was seen as a victory for the congressman in a district that Democrats hoped to flip. Notably, though, none of New Jersey’s Republicans were part of the original effort to bring today’s collective bargaining bill to the floor in the first place. A discharge petition to force a vote on the bill got signatures from every House Democrat and five Republicans, but Kean, Van Drew, and Smith did not sign on.
Unions back amendment to shield Pentagon employees
November 24, 2025 // Rep. Donald Norcross (D-N.J.) is pushing to include Section 1110 in the National Defense Authorization Act, which would reinstate bargaining rights for the department’s civilian staff, countering President Donald Trump’s March and August executive orders. The measure has drawn enough GOP interest that more than a dozen House Republicans urged Armed Services committee leaders in both chambers to keep the language in the final bill. Unions including the American Federation of Government Employees have argued that the Trump administration’s actions leave the largest segment of the federal workforce without the ability to bargain. “It affects a huge workforce,” Daniel Horowitz, AFGE’s legislative director, told Shift. “It’s 250,000 bargaining-unit employees for us at the Defense Department, and other unions have thousands more. So it’s really important in terms of restoring collective bargaining.”
Proposed review to modernize federal workers’ pay shot down by unions, Sen. Curtis says
October 14, 2025 // Despite having support leading up to the vote, the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal employee union in the country, sent a message to senators opposing the amendment — which Curtis said prompted many of his Democratic colleagues to taper off. The group argued the amendment would “open up the federal pay system” to systemic audits and reviews by the Trump administration, which it says would be “devastating for federal workers.” Rather than ensuring higher pay, the AFGE claimed the Trump administration would use it to justify pay cuts or even freeze some spending altogether.
TSA Union Local Leader Gets House Arrest for Misappropriating Funds
September 1, 2022 // LeClair was charged with one count of wire fraud in U.S. District Court in April, and she pleaded guilty in June. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani sentenced her to six months of home confinement, followed by three years of probation, and ordered her to pay restitution in the amount she stole from AFGE. The maximum penalty for a federal wire fraud conviction is 20 years in prison.
Labor-Related Amendments to the NDAA
July 13, 2022 // House Democrats have offered three amendments to the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would impose blacklisting on federal contractors and penalize defense contractors that are not unionized. The NDAA is annual legislation produced by the House and Senate armed services committees that sets the policies for the federal defense agencies.