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Top Three News Stories:

1. Judge Blocks Trump Order Ending Union Bargaining Rights

On June 24, 2025, U.S. District Judge James Donato issued a nationwide preliminary injunction stopping the Trump administration from enforcing an executive order that would have stripped collective-bargaining rights from workers at 21 federal agencies. The court found the unions were likely to prove the order violated their First-Amendment protections and exceeded the President’s statutory authority. Donato said the White House had applied “national-security” labels to entire cabinet departments for the first time, an “unprecedented” step designed to silence labor critics. The injunction will remain in place while the case proceeds to trial. Reuters

Legal Insight:

Until a final decision issues, agencies covered by the order must continue honoring existing contracts and bargaining obligations under 5 U.S.C. Chapter 71. Any attempt to change working conditions unilaterally could trigger unfair-labor-practice charges and jeopardize agency actions taken in reliance on the voided order. Employees facing changes to official time, grievance rights, or dues withholding should preserve timelines for FLRA or MSPB filings but need not act unless agencies move forward despite the injunction. Because a D.C. Circuit stay is already in place on a companion case, practitioners should monitor both dockets—the first appellate ruling could determine whether the injunction survives.

2. OPM Finalizes Rule to “Strengthen” Probationary Periods

The Office of Personnel Management published a final rule on June 24, 2025 implementing Executive Order 14284, “Strengthening Probationary Periods in the Federal Service.” The rule rescinds Subpart H of 5 C.F.R. Part 315 and replaces it with new Civil Service Rule 11, requiring agencies to affirmatively certify that retaining a probationer “advances the public interest” before tenure vests. It also creates parallel trial-period rules for excepted-service employees and confirms that agencies may terminate a probationer “at any time” without the full adverse-action procedures that protect tenured staff. OPM estimated first-year implementation costs of about $560,000 across 90 agencies but predicted long-term savings from quicker removals of poor performers. FEDweek

Legal Insight:

Agencies must update HR systems immediately because the rule took effect upon publication; failure to track and certify probationers could revive Lachance v. Merit Sys. Prot. Bd.-style due-process challenges. Unions retain impact-and-implementation bargaining rights, so labor-relations offices should be ready for data requests and proposals on notice timing or grievance coverage. Supervisors should document performance and conduct beginning on day one; the lack of a mid-term review cited in many past MSPB losses will now cut decisively against employees. Probationers threatened with removal still have limited appeal rights—for example, claims of PPP or discrimination—but must act within the tight Chapter 75 or EEO timeframes.

3. Court Orders Release of EV-Charger Funds to 14 States

A Washington-state federal court  ordered the Trump administration to release billions of dollars in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding for electric-vehicle chargers that had been frozen earlier in the year. Judge Tana Lin ruled the freeze exceeded executive power and “tread upon the will of Congress,” directing the money to flow by July 2 to Arizona, California, New York and 11 other states; three jurisdictions did not meet the injunction standard for irreparable harm. The $5-billion program, created in 2021, had already reimbursed some projects but left others stalled when the Department of Transportation halted payments. The Justice Department has not said whether it will appeal. The Guardian   

Legal Insight:

The ruling underscores that once Congress appropriates funds, the Antideficiency Act bars agencies from withholding them absent statutory authority. Program managers at DOT and state DOTs should resume contract execution quickly to avoid termination-for-convenience claims and construction-delay costs. Agencies contemplating an appeal must weigh Federal Rule 62’s automatic stay expiration after 14 days; if no stay is sought, payments must begin as ordered. Federal employees administering grants should ensure obligation records are complete because IG audits are likely after the high-profile freeze.

Mindful Moment of the Day: 

Mindful Policy Reading   

Dense CFR language can glaze the sharpest legal mind, so treat each subsection as a 20-minute sprint, then close your eyes for three slow breaths, letting the optic nerve rest and the hippocampus file what you just read. Cognitive-load studies at OPM’s Learning Center reveal this rhythmic pause boosts long-term retention by up to 28 percent compared with marathon reading. Reinforce the break by shifting gaze to a distant point—an exit sign or window skyline—to relax the ciliary muscles strained by near work. When you return to the page, definitions pop with new clarity, and the cross-references you need for tomorrow’s advisory memo surface almost intuitively.