Massive Coalition of Unions, Non-Profit Groups, and Local Governments File Omnibus Challenge to Unconstitutional Reorganization of Federal GovernmenT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 29, 2025
PRESS CONTACT: press@commondefense.us
Reorganization and Massive Reductions in Force Across Federal Agencies Violate Core Constitutional Concepts of Separation of Powers
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A coalition that includes nationwide labor organizations, vital non-profit groups, and local cities and counties in California, Illinois, Maryland, Texas, and Washington all united today to challenge the Trump administration’s unlawful reorganization of the federal government underway without legislative authority. The coalition is represented by Democracy Forward, Altshuler Berzon LLP, Protect Democracy, the Public Rights Project, and State Democracy Defenders Fund.
The coalition includes the Common Defense; American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and four AFGE locals; American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME); Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and SEIU Local 1000; Alliance for Retired Americans, American Geophysical Union; American Public Health Association; Center for Taxpayer Rights; Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks; Main Street Alliance; NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council); Northeast Organic Farming Association Inc.; VoteVets; Western Watersheds Project; City and County of San Francisco, California; County of Santa Clara, California; City of Chicago, Illinois; City of Baltimore, Maryland; Harris County, Texas; and King County, Washington. The case, AFGE v. Trump, was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
"As veterans, we swore an oath to defend the Constitution, and that duty doesn’t end with our service. The Trump administration’s Executive Order 14210 is a blatant overreach, trampling the separation of powers that keeps our democracy strong. It threatens the vital federal services—VA benefits, healthcare, environmental protections—that we fought for and that communities nationwide rely on. Veterans are proud to stand with this coalition, representing people from all walks of life, to demand that the courts halt this unlawful power grab. Congress, not the President, holds the authority to reshape our government. Anything less undermines the very freedoms we served to protect." - Jose Vasquez, Army veteran and Executive Director of Common Defense.
Statements from all of the plaintiffs and counsel in the case are here.
This is the largest and most significant challenge to Trump’s authority to remake the government without Congressional approval. The case seeks the court’s intervention to halt the implementation of President’s Executive Order 14210 (Implementing the President's 'Department of Government Efficiency' Workforce Optimization Initiative), which violates the Constitution’s fundamental principles of separation of powers. Federal agencies were required to submit for approval Agency Reductions in Force and Reorganization Plans on April 14. Although the President’s Executive Order seeks to radically reorganize and deconstruct federal agencies through massive reductions in force, the groups make clear in the filing that only Congress has the power to change the federal government in the ways the President has directed.
Read the complaint here.
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Common Defense Civic Engagement is a grassroots, veteran-led organization (501c4) that was founded in 2016. We empower veterans to stand up for our communities against the rising tide of racism, hate, and violence, to organize against the entrenched powers that have rigged our economy, and to champion an equitable and representative democracy, where “liberty and justice” truly is for all. For too long, politicians from both political parties have attempted to use veterans as unwilling political props, and Common Defense serves as a home for veterans to organize and speak for themselves and support the candidates who truly share our values.