Members of the House Oversight and Reform Committee clashed during a lengthy markup session on Tuesday over several pieces of legislation, including bills that would expand the Trump administration’s ability to reorganize the Federal government and terminate collective bargaining agreements.
The Reorganizing Government Act
The Reorganizing Government Act of 2025, or H.R. 1295, would grant President Donald Trump the ability to propose a government reorganization plan. The bill was introduced last month by committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., who said the measure would require Congress “to take an up or down vote on reorganization proposals by the president.”
However, committee Democrats voiced their vigorous opposition to the bill, which they said would allow President Trump to continue to “dismantle” the Federal government.
“The ‘Dismantling Government Act’ would grant Donald Trump and Elon Musk a filibuster-proof pathway to get their reckless actions blessed by Congress, and we already know exactly what they’ll do with that power,” said Ranking Member Gerry Connolly, D-Va.
“They will abolish whole departments and agencies,” he added. “With a simple majority vote in the House and the Senate, they will wipe away statutory protections authorized by Congress. Trump would be able to use this power to eliminate statutory programs through his reorganization plans, a feature that was expressly prohibited by Congress in the past.”
The bill is also opposed by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) – the largest Federal employee union. The union sent a letter to committee leadership on March 24 to voice its opposition to several bills, including H.R. 1295.
“AFGE members at USAID, the Department of Education, the Agency for Global Media, and many other departments and agencies are already suffering the ill effects from the administration’s lawless actions,” wrote Daniel Horowitz, acting legislative director at AFGE.
“Expanding the administration’s statutory reorganization authority, as H.R. 1295 does, only encourages further attacks on the nation’s civil service,” he added. “Moreover, the bill recklessly sets a goal of reducing the Federal civilian workforce while imposing no restriction on the contractor workforce.”
Democrats requested a recorded vote on the bill, along with several amendments, leaving the committee to postpone its votes until later this afternoon after MeriTalk’s news deadline.
The Preserving Presidential Management Authority Act
Another bill that the lawmakers considered on Tuesday is the Preserving Presidential Management Authority Act, H.R. 2249, which would allow the president to terminate collective bargaining agreements (CBAs).
Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas, introduced the bill on March 21. The bill specifies that an incoming president could terminate provisions of CBAs signed prior to their term of office or that conflict with a newly issued presidential order.
“Collective bargaining agreements, or CBAs, are negotiated by Federal employee unions and frequently result in civil service policies that prevent poorly performing Federal employees from being held accountable and conflict with the policy priorities of newly elected presidents,” Chairman Comer said when discussing the bill.
“For instance, the outgoing Biden-Harris Administration finalized long-term CBAs with Federal employee unions in an attempt to limit President Trump’s management authority. In these CBAs, the Biden-Harris administration made unprecedented concessions, including guaranteeing telework for Federal bureaucrats,” he added.
Specifically, the chairman referenced a CBA approved by Martin O’Malley, the former commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA), that would allow SSA employees to continue teleworking into 2029.
President Trump has pledged to challenge this deal, calling it a “ridiculous” agreement.
Nevertheless, committee Democrats including Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, said the bill “is simply another effort by Republicans in Congress to attack and attempt to eliminate Federal government unions.”
“[The bill] would give the president unilateral authority to terminate any provision of a CBA that the president doesn’t like,” Rep. Crockett said. “I remind my colleagues that collective bargaining agreements are legally binding agreements, and the president already has the power to renegotiate provisions of CBAs based on new management priorities.”
“For example, if the president signs an executive order to change telework policies, he or she already has the power to renegotiate a CBA provision relating to telework flexibilities, even if it’s bad policy,” she added.
AFGE also voiced its opposition to H.R. 2249, saying the bill would “undermine the entire system of collective bargaining and make Federal workers’ negotiating rights meaningless.”
“Contracts only work if both sides are bound by the terms for the duration of the contract,” Horowitz wrote, adding, “By permitting management to act unilaterally to invalidate provisions in existing CBA, this bill would destabilize labor-management relations and irrevocably weaken agreements that otherwise provide for workplace fairness, health and safety, and opportunities to address problems.”
Democrats also requested a recorded vote on this bill, along with its amendments, leaving the committee to postpone its votes until later this afternoon.
