House Democrat pushes Senate to reverse Trump federal union order after GOP revolt by 20 Republicans

SOLE Bipartisan House lawmakers are actively lobbying the Senate to take action on a bill reversing President Donald Trump's executive order on federal worker unions a moderate Democrat declared Rep Jared Golden D-Maine successfully forced a vote on his act Thursday evening despite little appetite from the majority of House Republicans It passed however with GOP lawmakers encouragement a critical number at a time when limited in the party are willing to publicly butt heads with Trump When I mentioned on the House floor that union collective bargaining rights are not a partisan issue I meant it Golden notified Fox News Digital in an specific interview The greatest evidence of that is union members themselves They vote Democrat they vote Republican They don't all vote but they might vote if they knew that someone supported their collective bargaining rights Golden introduced his bill in April and a companion was brought forward in the Senate in September It has encouragement from two Republicans as of now Sens Lisa Murkowski R-Alaska and Susan Collins R-Maine the latter of which appeared to sign on after House passage on Thursday evening MODERATE REPUBLICANS STAGE OBAMACARE REBELLION AS MEDICAL COST FRUSTRATIONS ERUPT IN HOUSE I didn't talk to her last night but I'm really glad to see her on It's not a surprise to me She's supported unions on certain issues in the past so she's obviously a very fundamental senator reported Golden who worked for Collins before coming to Congress himself He did say he spoke with a inadequate senators after the bill passed but added the real push is gonna be coming in the days and weeks ahead And Golden is not lobbying senators alone he mentioned Rep Brian Fitzpatrick R-Pa a moderate Republican who championed the bill in the House is working alongside him Fox News Digital reached out to Fitzpatrick s office for comment As you seemingly saw it was a long process in the House so you ve got to stay dogged and be case It's essential to do it in a way that's bipartisan to create space for members of both parties to work together Golden commented I made sure all along that the Republican co-sponsors of the bill were calm with our messaging and also the measures that we were taking so it's gonna need to be just like that in the Senate too Golden reported he expected more Republican senators to sign on in the coming days Sen Josh Hawley R-Mo for instance has not backed the measure as of Friday afternoon but Golden announced he was a great example of someone who s shown himself to be pro-labor HOUSE DEMS VOTE AGAINST RESOLUTION HONORING 'LIFE AND LEGACY' OF CHARLIE KIRKHawley has also previously introduced his own bipartisan pro-union measure earlier this year that would speed up the labor contract process for new unions That bill is endorsed by Teamsters General President Sean O Brien a friend of the lawmaker s Fox News Digital reached out to Collins Murkowski and Hawley s offices for further comment Golden got his bill passed by filing it as a discharge petition which is designed to force a vote on act over the wishes of leadership provided it gets sponsorship from a majority of House lawmakers Discharge petitions are rarely thriving in the House but have been used more frequently this year as Republicans grapple with a razor-thin majority In Golden's circumstance five House Republicans had signed onto the petition along with Democrats Fitzpatrick and Reps Rob Bresnahan R-Pa Don Bacon R-Neb Mike Lawler R-N Y and Nick LaLota R-N Y Meanwhile Sen Mark Warner D-Va introduced the companion version of Golden s bill in September He commented in a declaration to Fox News Digital The bipartisan momentum in the House only strengthens our hand in the Senate and I intend to build on it Collins who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee and Golden have a relationship that dates back to his first time in Washington D C not as a lawmaker but as a staffer for the longtime Maine senator They re also both known to buck their respective parties Just before Golden s achieving vote Collins joined Senate Democrats to back their three-year extension of expiring Obamacare subsidies But Warner s bill has sat in the Senate Homeland Prevention and Governmental Affairs Committee chaired by Sen Rand Paul for several months Whether it survives committee is unclear given that Paul has introduced several right-to-work bills over the years Republican opponents of the bill have announced federal workers' unions are not the same as labor unions in the private sector arguing that collective bargaining is a different scenario when working against Americans' own elected administrators rather than for-profit companies