Here are the Ways the Trump Admin Is Already Trampling on Workers’ Rights
Weeks into Trump’s second term, one thing is clear: billionaires are being prioritized over working people.
Margaret Poydock
Less than a month into his second term, President Trump has undertaken dozens of actions that harm workers, the economy and our democracy. If it feels like déjà vu, it is. Many of these actions were introduced during his first term, when President Trump attacked unions, workers’ wages and workplace health and safety. But now, equipped with policies from the Heritage Foundation’s far-right Project 2025, Trump is going even further to prioritize the interests of corporations and billionaires like Elon Musk over working people.
On day one, President Trump issued several executive orders that impact the federal workforce. This included reinstating Schedule F, which upends longstanding job protections for federal career employees and makes it easier to fire them for any reason. He also overturned federal collective bargaining and affirmed due process protections, instituted a federal hiring freeze, and mandated federal workers return to in-person work five days a week.
President Trump also created the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed by tech billionaire Elon Musk, to help “reduce wasteful spending” in the federal government. Under the guise of budget reductions, DOGE has demoralized and villainized the more than two million federal workers—nearly 30% of whom are union workers — who provide essential government services.
Last week, In These Times broke the news that Elon Musk and DOGE are targeting the Department of Labor and accessing sensitive worker data. (EPI and our labor partners filed a lawsuit against DOGE from gaining access to this vital government data.) Earlier this month, DOGE gained access to systems at the U.S. Treasury Department, including access to the disbursement of vital programs such as Social Security and Medicare, with the intention to undemocratically cut already appropriated funds for federal programs that the Trump administration doesn’t like. While the Trump administration has clarified that Musk receives “read only” access, it’s deeply troubling that an unelected billionaire has any access to such information — especially when that anti-union CEO has received multiple allegations of breaking federal employment laws.
President Trump has also paralyzed worker protection agencies by firing key officials from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The firing of two EEOC Commissioners and a NLRB board member is unprecedented — none have been fired before in the history of either agency. Further, as positions within independent federal agencies, they are intended to be shielded from presidential interference once confirmed by the Senate. These illegal firings have made it so neither agency has a quorum to hear cases or issue decisions, stifling their ability to effectively operate.
The impact of firing a board member at the NLRB is significant. President Trump has not only robbed U.S. workers of their ability to enforce their right to a union and collective bargaining, he has also destroyed the independence of the agency. By firing NLRB Board Member Gwynne Wilcox for “unduly disfavoring employers,” Trump has made it clear that he expects the NLRB to rule on the side of employers.
The move, while unprecedented, should not be shocking. Consider that SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, has challenged the constitutionality of the NLRB in order to suppress efforts by workers in his company to unionize. While those lawsuits continue, President Trump has delivered an immediate victory to Musk by ensuring the NLRB will not be able to enforce workers’ rights to a union, including those at Tesla and SpaceX.
President Trump has started his second term the same way he finished his first — putting the interests of corporations and billionaires over those of working people. Legal action is now being pursued to push back against the Trump administration’s most egregious actions that negatively impact working people and families. However, President Trump and Congressional Republicans are set to continue this campaign of harm, having floated spending cuts to vital safety net programs to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy in the upcoming budget negotiations. In the fight between workers and billionaires, it’s clear which side President Trump has chosen.
Margaret Poydock is a senior policy analyst at the Economic Policy Institute, an independent, nonprofit think tank that researches the impact of economic trends and policies on working people in the United States.
