With Democratic control of the Congress that convenes in January, federal employee organizations expect Capitol Hill to take a much more active role in federal workplace issues and are seeking to overturn some of the policies of the Trump administration’s first two years.

The AFGE union for example said it is looking for Congress “to pass legislation overturning President Trump’s orders from last year that illegally eliminated collective bargaining rights for more than a million federal employees. Our nation’s civil servants work with dignity and honor to serve the American public, and stripping them of fundamental workplace rights and protections was an egregious wrongdoing that must be corrected.”

Said the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, “It will be critical for them to act to preserve a nonpartisan, merit-based civil service, and ensure congressional directives are carried out. They will no doubt prioritize restoring collective bargaining rights for federal employees, which the current House of Representatives already supports.”

Keep an eye on defense spending bill

NARFE referenced a pending defense spending bill, one of the few major bills remaining for the current Congress ahead of a projected adjournment in mid-December (the need to extend agency funding authority beyond December 11 is another). While the House version would override the executive order as it applies at DoD/DoW, the Senate version would not; in a similar situation last year, the House deferred to the Senate.

Making such changes would require passing legislation, however, and while Democrats will hold a majority in both the House and Senate, those majorities will not be large enough to override a veto—a power President Trump has said he is expecting to wield often. Their majority in the Senate further will not be large enough to overcome a potential filibuster without at least some Republican votes.

NARFE said that “Must-pass legislation, like appropriations bills or the National Defense Authorization Act, probably provide the best path to advance legislation supported by House and Senate majorities, but potentially blocked from consideration in the Senate due to the filibuster. The congressional review act is another pathway to challenge administrative actions, even if subject to a veto. It’s possible some issues could be pursued on a bipartisan basis as well, though the likelihood of agreement may remain low.”

Changes to federal benefits likely off the table for now

Having a Democratic majority however does likely take off the table for at least the next two years proposals from Republicans that would require enacting laws. Prominent among them are provisions actively considered as part of a budget bill last year—but ultimately not enacted even under GOP control—to degrade the value of federal employee retirement benefits and require most employees to pay more toward them.

Chance of pay raise revived

Democratic control also is seen as improving prospects for federal employee pay raises.

For 2027, most employees are facing a pay freeze, following a 1 percent increase for 2026; the exception is that law enforcement personnel received a 3.8 percent raise this year and are in line for the same increase in January.

The needed measure to fund agencies beyond December 11 (when the current continuing resolution expires) offers the last opportunity for paying a raise to others in January, and such an effort is expected.

In September, more than 100 House and Senate members, almost all of them Democrats, have joined a letter to the party leaders of both chambers backing a pay raise of at least 3.8 percent for all federal employees. The letter also voiced support for the FAIR Act – a bill (HR-7480/S-3823) introduced early in the year calling for a 4.1 percent increase but which has not been actively considered in the budget process.

Workplace policies in focus

Much of the focus in Congress will be on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, where Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., will take over the chairmanship from Rep. James Comer, R-Ky. Employee organizations are looking for that panel to take on workplace policies which Democrats have criticized but have not had legislative power over.

Among personnel policies are:

• the increased role of political appointees in hiring;
• creation of Schedule Policy/Career;
• the imposition of forced distribution patterns on federal employee performance ratings;
• changing RIF policies to elevate performance ratings over tenure and veterans preference; and
• OPM’s assumption of powers to fire employees of other agencies on suitability grounds and to take from the MSPB authority over several types of appeals from federal employees.

On the management side, potential topics include examining the information that DOGE agents accessed, how they used it and where it is now; and of the employment cuts – which have been the subject of a growing series of IG and GAO reports criticizing a lack of planning and pointing a range of impacts on agency operations.

Said the Partnership for Public Service, “We encourage the new Congress to focus on this administration’s efforts to reshape the federal workforce and the impact that has had on service delivery to the American public. Lawmakers should also work to restore accountability, address the depletion of inspectors general offices and agency oversight mechanisms, and account for the politicization of the workforce through the use of appointments and new political authorities.”

On the Senate side, the ranking Democrat on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Gary Peters of Michigan, did not run for re-election. Sen. Margaret Hassan, D-N.H., is next in line in terms of seniority; she also is a member of the panel’s subcommittee on the federal workforce. However, there always is reshuffling of committee assignments in a new Congress and it is not guaranteed that she will become the chair.

Another notable departure on federal employment issues will come with the defeat Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. For many years she was a member of the governmental affairs panel—chairing it for a time—where she worked for bipartisan agreements. In the current Congress she chairs the Appropriations Committee but has remained active in federal workplace issues.

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