Joe Biden didn’t sit around and do nothing in his last days. He was up to no good.
Because President Trump has discovered a booby trap left for him by Joe Biden.
Trump Administration Moves to Overturn Biden’s Last-Minute Collective Bargaining Agreements
President Donald Trump is set to sign a memo on Friday that will undo the collective bargaining agreements (CBA) enacted by former President Joe Biden just before leaving office. This move, confirmed by reporters with multiple outlets, is part of the Trump admin’s efforts to reshape federal labor policies and free up the Trump administration to implement its own reform agenda.
The memo directs federal agencies to reject any collective bargaining agreements negotiated during the final days of the Biden administration. White House officials have argued that these last-minute CBAs were intentionally crafted to “constrain” the incoming Trump administration’s ability to reform government operations.
The memo introduces a new policy that prohibits agencies from negotiating new collective bargaining agreements during the final 30 days of a president’s term. It also instructs agency heads to disapprove of any such agreements finalized during that critical window. However, CBAs put into effect before that time frame will remain in place until the Trump administration has had a chance to “negotiate a better deal for the American people.”
One of the most notable agreements involved the Social Security Administration (SSA), where Biden’s Commissioner Martin O’Malley reached an agreement with the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) in December 2024. This agreement stipulated that the SSA’s 42,000 employees would not be required to work in the office during the Trump administration. The White House has made clear that such agreements were only set up to undermine President Trump’s policies, particularly those aimed at restoring in-person work for federal employees.
The White House emphasized that the new policy ensures the Trump administration can implement the policies that voters supported, instead of inheriting what it described as “wasteful and ineffective Biden policies rejected at the ballot box.”
Last-Minute Agreements: A Political Move?
According to a fact sheet obtained by Fox News Digital, the Trump administration argues that the last-minute collective bargaining agreements negotiated under Biden were a strategic attempt to “tie the incoming administration’s hands.” These agreements included a range of provisions, such as the Department of Education’s decision to prohibit the return of remote employees, as well as agreements with the Small Business Administration and Federal Trade Commission.
The White House contends that these CBAs were designed to prevent President Trump from following through on his promises, such as bringing federal workers back to the office and making government operations more efficient. “These CBAs attempt to prevent President Trump from implementing his promises to the American people,” the fact sheet states. “President Biden’s term of office ended on January 20th. Under this memorandum, he and future Presidents cannot govern agencies after leaving office by locking in last-minute CBAs.”
The new memo also shows an effort to align federal government practices with those in the private sector, where labor negotiations typically follow a more standardized approach. This shift aims to create more flexibility in the way federal agencies handle labor relations and reduce the influence of union-negotiated deals that might restrict agency operations.
This action follows an earlier directive from the White House’s Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which ordered federal agencies to return employees to in-person work unless they were excused due to disability or qualifying medical conditions. The OPM has also provided federal employees with the option to resign by September 30, 2025, with full pay and benefits if they choose not to return to the office. Employees have until February 6 to make their decision.
However, some groups of workers, including postal workers, military personnel, immigration officials, and certain national security staff, were excluded from this option, as were any positions that individual agencies may choose to carve out. The Trump administration alleges that the “work from home” option was abused by the Joe Biden administration and led to immense federal government inefficiency.
🚨NEW: President Trump shuts down reporter trying to push back on the federal worker buyout.
“No, they’re coming to work or they will be terminated.”
NOTHING is stopping the return of high standards for government employees.
Show up, or get out.
— Walter Curt (@WCdispatch_) January 30, 2025
The Conservative Column will keep our readers updated on any news from the Trump administration.
