The Latest: Trump declares end to union protections at most federal agencies
President Donald Trump says protecting national security gives him the authority to end collective bargaining with labor unions across most of the federal government.
JD Vance and his wife are due to visit an American military base in Greenland on Friday in a trip scaled back after an uproar among Greenlanders and Danes who were irked that the original itinerary was planned without consulting them.
The Trump administration is now targeting Stanford University and three University of California campuses with investigations into their admissions policies.
And an executive order Trump signed Thursday night puts Vance in charge of rooting out “improper ideology” at the Smithsonian Institution ‘s many museums, in his latest move against the pillars of America’s civil society — universities, science, the media and the law — that he considers out of step with Republican sensibilities.
Here’s the Latest:
Citing national security, Trump orders an end to end collective bargaining at many federal agencies
Trump is moving to end collective bargaining with federal labor unions in agencies with national security missions across the federal government, citing authority granted him under a 1978 law.
The order, signed without public fanfare and announced late Thursday, appears to touch most of the federal government. Affected agencies include the Departments of State, Defense, Veterans Affairs, Energy, Health and Human Services, Treasury, Justice and Commerce and the part of Homeland Security responsible for border security.
Police and firefighters, the order says, are an exception.
Trump said the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 gives him the authority to end collective bargaining with federal unions in these agencies because of their role in safeguarding national security.
The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 820,000 federal and D.C. government workers, said late Thursday that it is “preparing immediate legal action and will fight relentlessly to protect our rights, our members, and all working Americans from these unprecedented attacks.”
Read more about Trump’s order on collective bargaining
Stanford, Cal and UCLA investigated race-based admissions policies
The Trump administration on Thursday opened investigations into the admissions policies at Stanford University and three campuses within the University of California system, including UC Berkeley, UCLA and UC Irvine.
The Department of Justice said it’s investigating whether the schools’ policies comply with the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that ended affirmative action in college admissions.
Stanford said it took immediate steps in 2023 to ensure its admissions process complied with the law. The school said it had not been told specifically why it was being investigated.
Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has attempted to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion programs at colleges and elsewhere.
Read more about the anti-DEI investigation
Trump aims to reshape Smithsonian museums and zoo by targeting funding for ‘improper ideology’
Trump revealed his intention to force changes at the Smithsonian Institution with an executive order that targets funding for programs that advance “divisive narratives” and “improper ideology,” the latest step in a broadside against culture he deems too liberal.
It’s the Republican president’s latest salvo against cultural pillars of society, such as universities and art, that he considers out of step with conservative sensibilities.
The president said there’s been a “concerted and widespread” effort to rewrite American history by replacing “objective facts” with a “distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth.”
The order puts Vice President JD Vance in charge of an effort to “remove improper ideology” from the Smithsonian Institution, including its museums, education and research centers and the National Zoo. It specifically names the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
The executive order also hints at the return of Confederate statues and monuments, many of which were taken down or replaced around the country after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020 and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, which is detested by Trump and other conservatives.
The order also calls for improvements to Independence Hall in Philadelphia by July 4, 2026, in time for the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.