13 House Republicans Defy Trump and GOP Leadership, Join Democrats to Advance Repeal of Federal Union Crackdown

13 House Republicans late Wednesday night joined every voting Democrat to force a floor vote on legislation that would repeal one of President Donald Trump’s most controversial second-term executive orders: a March 2025 directive that stripped collective-bargaining rights from nearly one million federal workers at agencies critical to national security.

The dramatic 222–200 vote on a discharge petition, led by moderate Democrat Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME), bypassed Speaker Mike Johnson and GOP leadership, marking the first successful use of the rare procedural maneuver against a sitting Republican president’s policy in the 119th Congress.

The bill, titled the Protect America’s Workforce Act (PAWA), now heads to a final House vote as early as today, Thursday, December 11. If it passes the House, it faces an uphill battle in the Senate, where 60 votes would be required to break a near-certain filibuster, followed by President Trump’s promised veto.

The executive order, signed in March 2025, prohibited collective bargaining at the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Justice, Veterans Affairs, State, Treasury, Energy, Interior, Agriculture, and Health and Human Services. The White House defended it as essential to “eliminate bureaucratic delays that threaten national defense and public safety.” Federal unions and Democratic lawmakers immediately branded it the most aggressive anti-union move against federal workers in decades.

Rep. Golden, a Marine veteran representing a rural, Trump-won district, framed the repeal as a defense of troops and veterans rather than a partisan attack. “This isn’t about unions versus management,” Golden said on the House floor. “This is about the civilians who work alongside our warfighters, the VA nurses who care for our wounded warriors, and the border agents who secure our country. They deserve a voice.”

The 13 Republicans who broke ranks represent a mix of moderates, freshmen, and lawmakers from union-heavy or swing districts:

• Don Bacon (NE-02)
• Rob Bresnahan (PA-08)
• Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01)
• Tom Kean Jr. (NJ-07)
• Nick LaLota (NY-01)
• Mike Lawler (NY-17)
• Ryan Mackenzie (PA-07)
• Nicole Malliotakis (NY-11)
• Zach Nunn (IA-03)
• Chris Smith (NJ-04)
• Pete Stauber (MN-08)
• Mike Turner (OH-10)
• Jeff Van Drew (NJ-02)

Several of these members have received endorsements or campaign donations from public-sector unions in past cycles. Five were original co-sponsors of the repeal bill.

The vote triggered immediate fury from the MAGA wing of the party. Trump posted on Truth Social within minutes: “13 Weak Republicans just voted with the Radical Left to protect bloated, do-nothing federal unions. We will remember in 2026!” Conservative commentators quickly labeled the group “the Dirty Baker’s Dozen,” and primary challenges are already being discussed.

House GOP leadership scrambled to contain the fallout. “This was a procedural stunt, not a policy vote,” a senior leadership aide told reporters off the floor. “The real vote comes on final passage, and we expect party unity there.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt issued a scathing statement: “President Trump kept his promise to drain the swamp and cut red tape that endangers Americans. Any Republican who sides with union bosses over national security will have to explain that to their voters.”

Union leaders, meanwhile, hailed the vote as a historic victory. “For the first time in years, federal workers have a fighting chance,” said Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which represents 800,000 federal and D.C. government workers.

As of Thursday morning, Republican whip teams are furiously working phones to flip votes before the final passage vote expected later today. Even if the bill clears the House, its path in the Senate remains bleak without at least nine Republican senators breaking ranks, an unlikely scenario at this stage.

Whatever happens next, Wednesday night’s rebellion exposed deep cracks in the GOP’s narrow House majority and signaled that, at least on labor issues affecting veterans and national-security workers, Trump’s agenda is not invincible on Capitol Hill.

More to follow as the House gavels in for what promises to be one of the most consequential voting days of the young 119th Congress.