13 Republicans join Democrats to advance bill reversing Trump union order

Thirteen Republicans in the House of Representatives joined Democrats on Wednesday evening to advance a bill that would reverse President Donald Trump’s oppressive executive order on federal employee unions.

The bill was led by Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), who forced a vote on the measure through a mechanism called a discharge petition. It is designed to force a vote on legislation over leaders’ wishes, provided it has the support of a majority of parliamentarians.

The motion to continue the debate and vote on the final bill passed the House by 222 votes to 200. All 209 Democrats who voted voted to advance the bill, along with 13 Republicans, and it is headed for another House-wide procedural hurdle on Thursday.

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If it survives the “rules vote” in the House, the final vote to accept the repeal will be held on Thursday.

The Republicans who voted to advance the legislation were Reps. Jeff Van Drew, RN.J., Nicole Malliotakis, RY, Nick LaLota, RY, Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., Rob Bresnahan, R-Pa., Don Bacon, R-Neb., Mike Lawler, RY, Tom Kean, RN.J., Ryan Mackenzie, R-Pa., Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, Chris Smith, RN.J., Pete Stauber, R-Minn. and Mike Turner, R-Ohio.

Five House Republicans had signed Golden’s petition, along with 213 Democrats (Fitzpatrick, Bresnahan, Bacon, Lawler and LaLota).

Golden’s bill is called the Protect America’s Workforce Act and aims to repeal Trump’s March 2025 executive order.

Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, attends a press conference at the Capitol Visitor Center in Washington on July 17, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)

Trump’s order blocked collective bargaining with unions at a number of federal agencies, including parts of the departments of Defense, State, Veterans Affairs, Justice and Energy.

It also affected employees in the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS), Treasury, Health and Human Services (HHS), Interior, and Agriculture.

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Successful discharge petitions in the House are rare, as most MPs in the majority party are generally reluctant to openly challenge their party leaders.

But most of the Republicans who support Golden’s measure are expected to either face at least somewhat tough reelection bids or have districts in blue states where a bipartisan approach is expected on certain key issues.

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Expulsion petitions have become a more frequent practice in the House this year as the GOP grapples with a razor-thin majority that currently allows Republicans to lose just two votes on any party-line measure.

Republicans like Lawler, LaLota, Malliotakis and others were also supported by unions.

The law will be discussed in Parliament before the final vote. It must then be considered and approved by the Senate and go to Trump’s desk for his signature to become law.