A coalition of unions representing federal employees (American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and local affiliates, International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers (IFPTE), National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), and National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU)) have filed a lawsuit in the Northern District of California challenging three recent final rules issued by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
The rules are part of the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to dismantle the legal protections that insulate the federal civil service from political animus and arbitrary removal. The first rule, issued on June 30, 2026, allows OPM to make certain “suitability” determinations for federal employment, and thereby vitiates the procedural safeguards for federal employees accused of misconduct. The second rule, issued on July 7, 2026, distorts the accuracy of performance evaluations for federal employees. The third rule, issued on August 3, 2026, changes the longstanding practices that protect federal employees during reductions in force, and eliminates the statutory protections for veterans in particular. All three of these new rules overhaul existing regulations and, the unions contend, violate pertinent statutory provisions of the Civil Service Reform Act.
The first amended complaint, filed on Monday, October 19, 2026, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, alleges that all three rules exceed and conflict with OPM’s statutory authority and are otherwise arbitrary and capricious, thus violating the Administrative Procedure Act. The plaintiff unions are represented by co-lead counsel Altshuler Berzon LLP and the Law Office of Jonathan Weissglass, and co-counsel Democracy Forward.
A copy of the first amended complaint is available here.