Washington DC - The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) is taking legal action to challenge a Donald Trump executive order seeking to severely limit the labor rights of federal workers.

The lawsuit – filed Monday in the US District Court for the District of Columbia – takes aim at an executive order effectively ending collective bargaining for many federal employees in a supposed effort to protect US national security.

The president "supports constructive partnerships with unions who work with him," but "will not tolerate mass obstruction" of his agenda, stated a fact sheet released by the White House.

"The Administration’s own issuances show that the President’s exclusions are not based on national security concerns, but instead a policy objective of making federal employees easier to fire and political animus against federal sector unions. The Executive Order is therefore unlawful and must be enjoined," the new complaint argues.

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The NTEU – which represents workers at 37 federal agencies and offices – names Trump as well as Acting Director of the Office of Personnel Management Charles Ezell, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, among others, in the suit.

"The law plainly gives federal employees the right to bargain collectively and the shocking executive order abolishing that right for most of them, under the guise of national security, is an attempt to silence the voices of our nation’s public servants," NTEU National President Doreen Greenwald said in a press release.

"It is also a continuation of the administration’s efforts to deny the American people the vital services that these talented civil servants provide by making it easier to fire them without any pushback from their union advocates."