Rep. Jared Golden has secured enough support to force a floor vote on a bill that would reverse President Donald Trump’s executive order ending the collective bargaining rights of roughly 1 million unionized federal workers.

Golden announced Monday that he secured 218 signatures for a discharge petition to force a floor vote on his bill.

Such petitions are rare, but the same procedure was used to force House Speaker Mike Johnson to call a vote on releasing the Department of Justice files of Jeffrey Epstein, the late financier indicted for sex trafficking.

“America never voted to eliminate workers’ union rights, and the strong bipartisan support for my bill shows that Congress will not stand idly by while President Trump nullifies federal workers’ collective bargaining agreements and rolls back generations of labor law,” Golden said in a written statement.

The House is expected to take up “The Protect America’s Workforce Act of 2025,” introduced in April by Golden and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., in early December.

The bill seeks to nullify Trump’s March 27 executive order ending collective bargaining rights of hundreds of thousands of unionized federal workers across several agencies.

Federal unions sued the administration to block the order and won in lower court, only to lose on appeal.

Dr. Everett B. Kelley, National President of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which represents 800,000 federal employees, celebrated Golden’s “herculean efforts” to force a floor vote.

Cynthia Phinney, president of the Maine AFL-CIO, also applauded Golden’s success, saying Trump had “illegally stripped thousands of federal employees of their right to bargain for fair wages and safe working conditions.”

“The president’s executive order is a lawless attack on federal public servants providing crucial services to our nation, from servicing Navy submarines and caring for our veterans to providing Social Security benefits to older Mainers, surviving families and people with disabilities,” Phinney said.

“We are thrilled that Congressman Jared Golden has been able to collect enough signatures to force a vote on this critical workers’ rights legislation. We are incredibly grateful for his leadership on this issue and thank him for continuing to fight for Maine workers and their families.”

Golden, who has represented Maine’s 2nd District since 2018, announced this month that he will not seek reelection next year, citing increased polarization and a desire to spend more time with his family.

His decision has set off a flurry of activity among Democrats to see who has the best chance to succeed him in a seat that leans conservative. Already, political observers have suggested that Golden’s departure gives an advantage to former two-term Republican Gov. Paul LePage in a race Democrats can ill afford to lose if they want to retake the House during the 2026 midterms.