The efficiency and destructiveness of the United States’s military so far in the Iran campaign have been historic, and the bravery and professionalism of the people at the tip of the spear are awe-inspiring. However, it’s also worth remembering that the shaft of that spear is long and comprised of thousands of essential workers, not all of them in uniform.
That kind of efficacy and efficiency can only be achieved by a widely shared mission focus without political or professional disagreements. During an active conflict with a state adversary like Iran, any work slowdown, strike threat, or bureaucratic standoff would weaken America’s war effort at the very moment unity and speed are most critical. That is why it’s so important that the Trump administration’s plan to curtail federal employee unions just cleared a major legal hurdle.
President Donald Trump Executive Order 14251 last March, exempting federal agencies with “National Security Missions” from federal law that outlines the rights of federal workers to organize, join, or assist unions. It specified that these agencies could no longer engage in cripplingly binding collective bargaining agreements with federal workers’ unions.
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Put simply, unions would no longer have power over the Department of War, the Department of Homeland Security, and other major government agencies that protect the U.S. The administration made it clear with this order that keeping America safe is the predominant reason for exempting these agencies from dealing with workers’ unions. Situation readiness is the top concern for these major agencies, and having to deal with workers going on strike or placating their demands would hamper mission completion. This is a necessary move to ensure that the federal government serves the American people when mission readiness is critical, without legal battles that slow-roll progress.
Trump’s order was met with stiff resistance from federal workers’ unions in Washington, including the nation’s largest, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE). The AFGE sued the administration after Trump signed the order, arguing it was an “illegal, retaliatory attempt to punish federal employee unions for engaging in constitutionally protected speech.”
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California blocked the order in June 2025. But in late February, a federal appeals court lifted the lower court’s ruling and argued that unions’ claims about the retaliatory nature of the order would not likely succeed in court. However, the case is not over yet.
Government unions are problematic. Even President Franklin D. Roosevelt opposed them, going so far as to call the notion of striking government workers “unthinkable and intolerable.” Yet government unions are a powerful force in D.C. that seek to continue the status quo of an immune bureaucracy class.
Further, unionization prioritizes politics over service in the civil service. The formation of a government union is an inherently political act that leads to alliances with activists and other unions. If this kind of unionized political resistance occurred within DOW or DHS, the nation would be at grave risk.
Imagine if DOW union members went on strike amid the war with Iran. Our advantage would be crippled, and more lives would be lost. The modern military depends on a vast network of civilian analysts, logistics coordinators, cybersecurity specialists, and procurement officials. If those functions slowed or halted because of labor disputes, the consequences would be felt directly on the battlefield.
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Also, consider the ramifications of Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents unionizing at DHS. The very idea of a secure border would be put on ice as defenses dwindle, deportations decrease, and illegal crossings spike to levels surpassing the Biden administration’s open border.
In the middle of a confrontation with Iran, America cannot afford bureaucratic paralysis within the very agencies responsible for executing national security policy. The Trump administration exempting these federal agencies from dealing with unions is a no-brainer in keeping our nation’s unelected bureaucracy in check and the tip of the spear razor sharp.
Houston Keene is the Director of Democracy Restored, a group aiming to bring transparency to those who actively undermine our democracy under the guise of protecting it.