According to various news reports, the American Federation of Government Employees has asked the Supreme Court to consider its lawsuit against the labor relations rules in the Pentagon’s new National Security Personnel System. A union coalition lost its appeal before the US Court of Appeals last year. Congress, however, has been sympathetic to the union case and in the 2008 defense policy bill directed DOD to make NSPS consistent with current collective bargaining requirements.
The use of a military counter-drone laser on the southwest border this week—which prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to abruptly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas—will be a “case study” on the complex web of authorities needed to employ such weapons near civilian areas and the consequences of agencies…
