Throughout the first year of Donald Trump’s second presidency, it’s been rare for any of New Jersey’s three Republican congressmen to explicitly break with the president, let alone for all three of them to do so – but that’s precisely what happened this afternoon.
In March, Trump signed an executive order that ended collective bargaining rights for hundreds of thousands of federal employees, hobbling the federal workforce’s ability to unionize. When a bill reversing that order came before the House today, 20 Republicans joined every Democrat in helping to pass it, Reps. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield), Chris Smith (R-Manchester), and Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis) among them.
In interviews with the New Jersey Globe, Smith and Van Drew both emphasized that their votes have little to do with Trump himself and instead were spurred by their own support for organized labor at home.
“I believe in collective bargaining – I always have, that’s not a new position, I’ve had that position for many years,” Van Drew said. “I support 99.99% of [Trump’s] executive orders. If you’re a human being, you’re going to have an opinion on things, and I certainly do as well.”
“It’s not Trump,” Smith said. “We just opened up a brand new outpatient clinic for the VA in Toms River. I want them to have that ability.”
New Jersey is one of the nation’s most heavily unionized states, and the state’s powerful unions frequently support politicians of both parties. Smith and Van Drew have received backing from the New Jersey AFL-CIO in recent re-election campaigns; during Kean’s 2024 campaign, meanwhile, the AFL-CIO chose to stay out of the race, which was seen as a victory for the congressman in a district that Democrats hoped to flip.
Notably, though, none of New Jersey’s Republicans were part of the original effort to bring today’s collective bargaining bill to the floor in the first place. A discharge petition to force a vote on the bill got signatures from every House Democrat and five Republicans, but Kean, Van Drew, and Smith did not sign on.
Rep. Donald Norcross (D-Camden), a union electrician, also took issue with the fact that prior to passing the National Defense Authorization Act last night, Republicans had stripped out his provision restoring collective bargaining rights for Department of Defense workers. Today’s bill goes further than Norcross’s amendment, but it also faces longer odds of passing the Senate than the must-pass NDAA.
“Less than 24 hours ago, in this very room, we had a chance to immediately restore collective bargaining rights just for the Department of Defense. They all voted no,” Norcross said in remarks on the House floor. “And today, they want to vote yes? A day late and a dollar short, is what I’m talking about.”
Kean, for his part, said in a statement that he was “disappointed” by the decision to remove Norcross’s NDAA provision – a decision reportedly made because it lacked support from Senate Republicans – but that he was encouraged by the bipartisan vote on today’s bill.
“The Protect America’s Workforce Act is a strong, pro-worker bill” Kean said. “It safeguards fair pay and protects good jobs. I am proud to stand with working families, proud to stand with unions, and proud to support this legislation.”
This story was updated at 5:47 p.m. with comment from Kean.
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