A federal appeals court has granted temporary approval for President Trump to revoke collective bargaining rights for employees at the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), ruling that the law gives the White House broad discretion. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued the decision Friday, putting on hold a lower court ruling that had declared Trump’s action unlawful. The lower court had found the president’s justification insufficient and allowed judicial review of his determinations. In an unsigned order, the appellate judges emphasized that the law grants the president “broad authority” to exclude federal employees from collective bargaining on national security grounds. The court highlighted that the Secretary of State sits on the National Security Council and that the department’s mission centers on U.S. security, giving presidential national security determinations precedence. The three-judge panel stayed Judge Paul Friedman’s ruling, suspending collective bargaining rights while the case continues in lower courts. They wrote, “When a statutory delegation invokes the president’s discretion in exercising core Article II responsibilities, there is little for a court to review.”

Though the panel addressed presidential authority, the decision is not final. The American Foreign Service Association (AFSA), which brought the case, vowed to continue fighting. AFSA president Tom Yazdgerdi called the stay a blow to decades of defending diplomats’ rights and government transparency. Trump’s March 27 executive order identified numerous federal agencies with national security ties—including the State Department, FCC, and DOJ—and excluded them from collective bargaining. AFSA claims the order was political retaliation for opposing the president’s proposed funding cuts to USAID and State Department programs.