Legal Update - August 10-24, 2026

Posted On: Aug 24, 2026

August 10-24, 2026

Your biweeklyâ€¯updateâ€¯on NTEU-related litigation challenging the administration's attacks on federal employees. These emails only include cases with notable updates. To see the current status of other key cases we track in Legal Update, click here.

NTEU Challenge to Appointment of IRS “CEO” Frank Bisignano and IRS’s Suspension of Advanced Leave
NEW CASE: On August 20, 2026, NTEU filed a federal lawsuit against the IRS challenging its sudden and unjustifiable suspension of the advanced leave program. Our complaint explains that the IRS violated the law when management announced it would deny all pending advanced leave requests and would not consider future requests at all, regardless of the merits of a particular request. We are asking the judge to order the IRS to undo this policy change. Our lawsuit also challenges IRS “CEO” Frank Bisignano’s authority to issue this new policy. The “CEO” position is not consistent with the Constitution’s requirement that agency heads be nominated and Senate confirmed. We are asking the court to rule that Mr. Bisignano is unlawfully serving as the head of the IRS.

NTEU First Amendment Challenge to IRS Ban on NTEU Materials in All Offices
On June 16, NTEU filed a lawsuit in D.C. federal district court because the IRS was removing NTEU materials—and NTEU materials only—from common workplace areas and employee workstations. This violates the First Amendment’s protection against viewpoint discrimination and the First Amendment’s protection of union members to freely associate. After NTEU filed a preliminary injunction motion, the agency agreed to voluntarily stop enforcing the ban on NTEU materials and to notify NTEU in advance if it planned to restart enforcement of the previous or a related ban. NTEU’s updated complaint, filed July 16, also challenged the IRS’s block on messages from the @nteu.org domain from the agency’s email system and the block on access to NTEU’s website from IRS computer systems. On August 4, 2026, the IRS told the Court it was permanently rescinding its previous policy targeting NTEU materials in the workplace, but was issuing a new one that still restricted some materials.

UPDATE: Because of the IRS’s continuing, inconsistent treatment of NTEU materials within the workplace, the parties filed on August 17 a joint status report documenting their shared understanding that NTEU materials inside workstations would be allowed, NTEU materials in common areas would not be targeted, and some NTEU emails will be unblocked. Our claims challenging the IRS’s blocks on messages from NTEU’s domain and on NTEU’s website are still alive. We will file a motion asking the court to rule in our favor on these claims in mid-September.

Challenge to IRS Immunity Order
On August 6, NTEU joined a lawsuit in Virginia federal district court to challenge provisions of a Department of Justice order implementing a settlement that broadly grants immunity to the President, his family, and his family's business interests from tax audits. While other aspects of the settlement had previously been challenged in this lawsuit—and been subject of emergency relief that the district court granted—no claim had been brought against the sweeping tax auditing provisions that are widely believed to be illegal. The unlawful provisions require NTEU members to place themselves in an impossible position: defy a direct order and risk losing their job or carry out the illegal directive and violate their oath of office.

UPDATE: On August 21, the plaintiffs filed a motion to compel the government to give it information related to the case, also known as discovery. That same day the government filed a new motion to dismiss in response to the August 6 amended complaint. The court will hold a hearing on the motion to compel on Friday, August 28 and another on the motion to dismiss on September 18. In addition, the plaintiffs will send more discovery requests to the government today, August 24.

NTEU Challenge to FMCS's Refusal to Assign Arbitrators
NTEU and three other unions filed a lawsuit in federal court in Washington, D.C., on May 15, 2026, alleging that the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) is wrongly refusing to assign arbitrators. In a reversal of its standard practice, the FCMS recently decided that it will no longer assign arbitrators if the agency involved is covered by the Exclusions Executive Order.

UPDATE: The FMCS issued an interim rule on August 4, 2026, which changed its internal regulation so that it could decline to assign arbitrators. Plaintiffs filed an amended complaint on August 21, 2026, alleging that the interim rule was unlawful because it was arbitrary and capricious and because FMCS should have allowed prior public notice and comment.

AFGE’s Challenge to Government-Wide Mass RIFs & FNA Reorganization
A lower court blocked RIFs at many agencies, but the Supreme Court stayed that order. Beginning in February 2026, AFGE and its fellow plaintiffs challenged planned cuts at FEMA through a new complaint, preliminary injunction motion, and discovery proceedings.

On July 1, the plaintiffs in the case filed a new challenge to the USDA’s planned reorganization, which would negatively impact NTEU bargaining-unit employees at the Food and Nutrition Administration (FNA, formerly FNS). The plaintiffs asked the judge to halt the reorganization while the parties dispute whether it is legal. NTEU members at FNA supported this new challenge by providing critical facts and evidence, through sworn declarations, regarding FNA’s actions so far. On August 7, the plaintiffs filed their reply to the USDA’s response to the reorganization challenge. NTEU members at FNA again supported the legal challenge by providing sworn declarations for the judge’s consideration. While NTEU is not a party to this lawsuit, the relief that is being requested—and that NTEU members’ declarations support—would benefit our FNA members.

UPDATE: On August 21, the district judge issued a supplemental briefing order asking the parties to submit by August 27 more written arguments concerning a section of a 2026 funding law requiring the USDA to get Congress’s approval before implementing any reorganization. The judge has scheduled a hearing on the FEMA and USDA/FNA challenges for Tuesday, September 1, at 11:00 am Pacific/2:00 pm Eastern. Members of the public can observe the hearing at this link.

AFGE VA Exclusions Challenge in Rhode Island
AFGE filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Rhode Island on behalf of several locals at Veterans Affairs after the agency terminated their contract under the March 2025 Exclusions Executive Order. On March 13, the judge granted the locals’ request for a preliminary injunction. The VA appealed that decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. On May 16, a three-judge panel at the First Circuit denied the government’s request to pause the injunction while the Court considers the government’s appeal.

In response to the VA’s claim that the contract would terminate on August 8, the plaintiffs filed a motion to enforce the preliminary injunction with the district judge on July 28. The judge held a hearing on the motion on August 7. On the same day, she granted the plaintiffs’ motion. The judge agreed with the plaintiffs that under its original terms, the contract has now automatically extended to remain in effect while the parties negotiate a new agreement.

UPDATE: On August 10, the government appealed the judge’s August 7 order to the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. On August 17, the government filed an emergency motion asking the judge to put her August 7 order and the preliminary injunction on hold.