SEATTLE — A federal judge ruled today that the Trump administration’s attempt to terminate the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) would violate a court injunction issued earlier this year.

Despite an injunction prohibiting termination of AFGE’s CBA, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Dec. 12 that it intended to unilaterally terminate the agreement between AFGE and TSA in January. The CBA covers approximately 47,000 Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) working at more than 400 airports nationwide.

This was not DHS’s first attempt to end the agreement. On March 7, Secretary Kristi Noem initially sought to terminate the contract, but in June, U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman of the Western District of Washington issued a preliminary injunction blocking the action. Judge Pechman found that DHS’s actions violated the First Amendment, the Fifth Amendment, and the Administrative Procedure Act.

Despite the injunction’s clear prohibition on terminating the CBA, Secretary Noem signed a new declaration in September purporting to terminate the agreement. Notably, DHS did not inform AFGE or TSA employees of the September declaration until December—concealing from thousands of hardworking TSA officers working without pay during the government shutdown, that Secretary Noem was planning to strip them of their rights.

On Dec. 18, AFGE filed an emergency motion to enforce the injunction. Following a hearing earlier this week, Judge Whitehead ruled today that implementing Secretary Noem’s September determination would violate the preliminary injunction, finding that the June order “by its plain terms, prohibits [TSA] from implementing the September Noem Determination.” The court further ordered TSA to “immediately notify bargaining unit TSOs that, pursuant to the Preliminary Injunction issued by the court on June 2, 2025, the September Noem Determination will not take effect on January 18, 2026, the 2024 CBA remains applicable and binding, and the currently pending grievances and arbitrations submitted under the 2024 CBA will continue to be processed.”

“On behalf of the 47,000 TSA officers our union represents, I thank the court for stepping in to prevent the administration from ripping up their union contract, again,” said AFGE National President Everett Kelley. “TSA officers — many of whom are veterans — are patriotic public servants who swore an oath to protect the safety of the traveling public and to ensure that another horrific attack like September 11 never happens again. The administration’s repeated efforts to strip these workers of a voice in their working conditions should concern every person who steps foot in an airport.”

“It shouldn’t have been necessary to go to court once — much less twice — to stop the Trump’s administration’s illegitimate attack on the collective bargaining agreement between AFGE and TSA,” said Amb. Norm Eisen (ret.), executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund. “It was plainly illegal the first time and even more so the second. We applaud this decision and are proud to fight for the wonderful TSA workforce represented by AFGE. Defending labor is defending democracy.”

The plaintiffs include AFGE, AFGE Local 1121, the Communications Workers of America, and the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA. They are represented by Bredhoff & Kaiser, PLLC, and the Democracy Defenders Fund (DDF).

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The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the largest federal employee union, representing 820,000 workers in the federal government and the government of the District of Columbia.

Democracy Defenders Fund brings together a nonpartisan team to work with national, state and local allies across the country to defend in real-time the foundations of our democracy.