Federal workers lose paid time for union representation under new bill
H.R. 2676 — No Union Time on the Taxpayer’s Dime Act · Filed by Ben Cline (R-VA) · 5 cosponsors · Introduced Apr 7, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill eliminates 'official time'—the practice of allowing federal employees who are union representatives to conduct union business during paid work hours. Under current law, these employees can spend part of their workday on union activities while being paid by taxpayers. The bill requires all union-related work to happen only during employees' unpaid time off.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative function is to restrict a specific labor-relations practice—paid official time for union representatives—by amending the statute that currently permits it. It is a direct, narrow policy change to federal labor law, not a broader appropriations, tax, or regulatory measure.
What the text implies
- Federal employees who are union stewards, negotiators, or grievance representatives will lose paid time to perform these functions, potentially reducing the capacity of unions to represent members in workplace disputes, safety complaints, and contract negotiations.
- The bill does not address whether employees can use unpaid leave (vacation, personal time) for union duties, or whether employers must grant unpaid leave for such purposes—implementation may depend on existing leave policies and labor law.
- Elimination of official time may disproportionately affect lower-paid federal employees who cannot afford to lose income by taking unpaid time for union representation, potentially weakening union participation among lower-wage workers.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Federal employees and union members face a concrete cost: loss of paid time for union representation, grievance handling, and collective-bargaining activities—functions that historically protect worker rights and workplace safety. However, taxpayers gain a direct fiscal benefit: elimination of paid time spent on non-governmental union business. The trade-off is genuine and material on both sides.
Named in the bill
Federal employees, Labor unions, U.S. Office of Personnel Management, 5 U.S.C. § 7131
Where it stands
5 cosponsors: 5 Republicans.
- Apr 7, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Apr 7, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
2 lobbying clients named this bill on 4 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $1,100,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 56 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 41% of bills with at least one filing.
Ben Cline, the sponsor, reported $652,276 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- National Treasury Employees Union — $690,000 on 2 filings
- National Right to Work Committee — $410,000 on 2 filings
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (638 characters) on Jun 8, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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