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Labor Union

American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE)

AFGE Official Logo (link) by Driehl is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (link)
Website:

www.afge.org/
Location:

WASHINGTON, DC
Tax ID:

53-0025740
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(5)

Budget (2022):

Revenue: $73,189,275
Expenses: $69,218,582
Assets: $95,803,014
Type:

Labor union
Formation:

1932
President:

Everett Kelley

Contact InfluenceWatch with suggested edits or tips for additional profiles.

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the largest federal worker union with over 300,000 members.1 Affiliated with the AFL-CIO union federation since its founding, AFGE collectively bargains for federal employees and lobbies against any privatization efforts.234 Over recent years, AFGE has faced a string of controversies, including having dozens of its officers convicted of corruption charges.5

In 2025, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) was among several unions derecognized by the Department of Health and Human Services under President Donald Trump’s executive order limiting collective bargaining at agencies deemed critical to national security. AFGE has argued that the move is illegal and retaliatory, pointing to prior disputes with the administration over layoffs. Legal challenges to the derecognition are ongoing following an August 2025 Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that permitted agencies to proceed while litigation continues. 6

Organizational Overview

AFGE is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and represents employees in every federal agency as well as employees of the District of Columbia Government.78 With particular concentration in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Social Security Administration (SSA), the Department of Defense (DOD), and the Department of Justice (DOJ), AFGE membership includes border patrol agents, police officers, lawyers, nurses, and other occupations.8

The union represents 700,000 workers, including around 320,000 dues-paying members.89 (By law, federal employees subject to a collective bargaining agreement are not required to be union members or pay dues to a labor union.) These numbers include around 18,000 retired members.10 Bucking a broader trend toward declining union membership in the United States, AFGE has increased its membership by around 20,000 in the past four years and by over 100,000 since 2002.11

AFGE has nearly 400 employees and boasts over 1,000 local chapters and 12 district offices throughout the United States, predominantly on the East Coast and in the Midwest. 9812 These district offices each have their own vice presidents who sit on the National Executive Council along with the National President and the National Vice President for Women and Fair Practices813

From its founding in 1932, AFGE has been nationally affiliated with the AFL-CIO or its predecessor labor federations.14 AFGE made a historically rare move and voted in 1997 for every single one of its 1,100 local chapters to affiliate with the state federations of the AFL-CIO, bringing every part of AFGE firmly in line with the international union.14 AFGE won a big victory in 1962 when then-President John Kennedy signed Executive Order 10988 which allowed federal employees to collectively bargain with federal departments.15

Activities

AFGE national headquarters spent over $94 million in 2016 (not including funds collected and transmitted to affiliates), including spending over $30 million on representational activities, over $11 million on political activities and lobbying, and spending over $24 million on overhead and union administration.16 The union disbursed roughly $3 million to its officers and $33.6 million to union employees.17

AFGE negotiates dozens of contracts each year with the federal government, predominantly through regional and local branches of federal agencies like the Department of Veterans Affairs or the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.18

In the 2016 election cycle, AFGE-associated political committees and AFGE employees contributed around $1.3 million to Democrats and around $102,000 to Republicans. 19 During that election cycle, AFGE endorsed former secretary of state Hillary Clinton for President over her opponent on the Democratic Party presidential primary, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who actively competed for union endorsements.20

From 1998 through 2016, AFGE and its affiliates spent over $24.5 million lobbying at the federal level.21

Outside of lobbying members of Congress on behalf of their membership,22 AFGE engages in a variety of campaigns to “fight the [Trump] Administration’s privatization agenda and assault on the rights of federal employees.”4 This includes providing phone scripts for its members to call U.S. Senators and Representatives to advocate for hiring more employees at the VA and Transportation Security Administration (TSA), paid parental leave legislation, federal pay raises, and “official time,” whereby union members are paid by their government employer (namely the taxpayer) even while working full time for their union. 4

In June 2025, AFGE participated in organizing or supporting protests branded under the “#NoKings” banner, a national day of demonstrations positioned as a defense of democratic norms against Donald Trump. These events were part of a larger mobilization involving over 70 Democratic Party affiliates and allied organizations across at least 19 U.S. states and multiple international locations, according to publicly available event listings on Mobilize.us, a Democratic Party-aligned organizing platform. 23 24

Controversies

Criminal Corruption

AFGE has been described as the most corrupt union in America, leading the nation in criminal misconduct investigated by the Department of Labor for several years running.5 In the first eight months of 2017 alone, 11 AFGE officials pled guilty to or were convicted of corruption offences, vastly outpacing the postal unions with six convictions and the National Federation of Federal Employees with one conviction. In 2017, 60% of the criminal corruption offenses of federal sector unions reported on the Labor Department’s Criminal Enforcement webpage were committed by AFGE, as of the beginning of August.5

The numbers are similarly poor in previous years. AFGE officials were convicted of corruption or pled guilty 10 times in 2016 and nine in 2015.5 AFGE officials have pled guilty alone to crimes 135 times since 2001.25

Over the course of about two years from mid-2015 to 2017, three AFGE officials embezzled money from the union. Jeffery Davis, former President of AFGE Local 183, embezzled $92,000; Violet Lamorie, former Secretary Treasurer of AFGE Local 695, embezzled over $70,000; and William Davis, former President of AFGE Local 1119, embezzled around $150,000. Seven AFGE officers were charged with wire fraud, two for bank fraud, and five for false statements or writing, among many other crimes.5

Official Time

AFGE found itself at the center of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) scandal that came to light in 2014 wherein dozens of veterans died waiting for care while thousands more endured multi-month long wait times for service—wait times that VA employees allegedly covered up.26 Subsequent investigations found excessive wait times and poor conditions at VA conditions across the United States.26

Reports revealed that employees across the scandal-plagued VA system were working full time for AFGE under a practice known as “official time,” including four employees in Baltimore, Maryland, one in Wilmington, Delaware, three in Tuscon, Arizona, and one in Massachusetts.26 AFGE union members in the VA were also accused of using official time to compile a “management hit list” allegedly at the request of VA Secretary Bob McDonald.27 The list contained nearly three dozen VA managers the union members wanted to have removed from the agency.27

Even at a time when AFGE officials were being paid full government salaries from the VA while working for the union, then-AFGE President Cox claimed the main problem at the VA was understaffing.26 Cox later said at an AFGE rally in Washington, D.C., that if he meets “one more politician who tells me we need to tighten our belts, I’m going to take my belt off and I’m going to whoop his ass.”28

AFGE subsequently resisted any reforms that would allow veterans to access non-VA health care when faced with unacceptable wait times at the VA, with Cox claiming that “such a move could jeopardize the quality of patient care.”26

AFGE has publicly defended official time, claiming without evidence that official time is used to “enhance working conditions,” “[improve] workplace safety,” and “protect employees from discrimination on the basis of race, gender, age, sexual orientation, and other factors.”29 The union added that official time “saves taxpayer money by helping resolve workplace conflicts as early as possible.”29

However, the Competitive Enterprise Institute found not only that five AFGE officials found guilty or indicted for criminal activity were on official time, but also that the use of official time across the federal government comes at a great cost to taxpayers.30 In FY 2012 alone, for example, official time cost over $157 million as federal employees spend nearly 3.5 million hours working for their unions.30

VA Accountability Act

In early 2018, AFGE expressed opposition to the VA Accountability Act, a law reforming civil service practices in the Department of Veterans Affairs.. J. David Cox Sr., then-national president of AFGE, worried that the act “makes it easier for the Department of Veterans Affairs to fire employees accused of misconduct.”31

Alleged Cover-Ups

In 2017, AFGE’s National Executive Council almost unanimously decided to remove then-Secretary-Treasurer Eugene Hudson Jr. after he was “found guilty on the basis of internal charges in connection with his use of AFGE staff and email for campaign or personal purposes.”32 Hudson claimed that he was “removed for political reasons” in retaliation for investigating abuses of the union’s expense accounts by senior leadership as well as for his plans to run against Cox.32 Hudson claimed to be targeted because he was an “outspoken critic of how then-AFGE President J. David Cox and other members of the NEC have spent AFGE money for personal use, including family vacations to the Virgin Islands.”32

Since his removal from AFGE, Hudson challenged the dismissal from the organization in a federal district court, which ordered AFGE to reinstate Hudson near the end of 2017. AFGE challenged that court’s decision and won, allowing the union to remove Hudson from office again. The legal battle may not be finished because “Hudson’s lawsuit against his ouster still has remaining counts the court must decide.”33

Near the end of 2018, then-president J. David Cox Sr. “dismissed four elected officials of the union’s Department of Labor unit.” The dismissal was a result of “allegations of improper expenditures and failure to honor the votes of members.” An $18,000 event at the Hyatt Regency is one of the alleged expenditures being called into question. However, the deposed officials questioned the procedures that Cox followed to remove them as well as the possible motive behind removing Alex Bastani, who was rumored to be considering a second run for national union office. 3435

2025 Government Shutdown

In October 2025, AFGE national president Everett Kennedy wrote a publication on the group’s website backing Republican legislation in Congress to end the ongoing 2025 U.S government shutdown which started on October 1, 2025. In his publication he argued, “it’s time to pass a clean continuing resolution and end this shutdown today. No half measures, and no gamesmanship. Put every single federal worker back on the job with full back pay — today.” 36 The publication continued “Work together on a bipartisan basis to address important policy matters like addressing rising costs and fixing the broken appropriations process…[n]one of these steps favor one political side over another. They favor the American people – who expect stability from their government and responsibility from their leaders.” 36

The decision drew backlash from rank-and-file members, who released an open letter opposing the leadership’s stance and accusing national officers of failing to place responsibility on Republicans, who controlled the Senate rules and could reopen the government unilaterally. Critics also claimed that AFGE had declined to establish clear negotiation red lines or mount strong pressure campaigns during the shutdown. 37

Leadership

Everett Kelley is the national president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) as of 2025. Beginning his first term in 2020, he was subsequently reelected in 2022 and later in 2024. Working as a member of the AFGE since 1981, he also served as a member of the Anniston Army Depot. Prior to his national presidency, Kelley was previously the president of AFGE Local 1945 from 2002 to 2011, was elected the national vice president of AFGE District 5 in 2011, and was later elected as the AFGE’s national secretary-treasurer in 2018 before being elected national president in 2020. In 2022, he was appointed by then-president Joe Biden to serve on the Federal Salary Council. 38

References

  1. “Government Employees: Basic Information.” Union Facts. November 15, 2016. Accessed September 24, 2017. https://www.unionfacts.com/union/Government_Employees#basic-tab.
  2. “About Us.” AFGE.  Accessed September 24, 2017. https://www.afge.org/about-us/.
  3. “Government Employees: Contract – Federal Government.” Union Facts. Accessed September 24, 2017. https://www.unionfacts.com/contracts/Government_Employees/Federal_Government.
  4. “Campaign.” AFGE. Accessed September 24, 2017.https://www.afge.org/take-action/campaigns/.
  5. Gilson, Bob. “American Federation of Government Employees Still the Most Corrupt Union in the U.S.A.” FedSmith. August 3, 2017. Accessed September 24, 2017. https://www.fedsmith.com/2017/08/03/american-federation-government-employees-still-most-corrupt-union-usa/.
  6. Choi , Joseph. “HHS Goes to War against Employee Unions.” The Hill , August 27, 2025. https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5473353-hhs-goes-to-war-against-employee-unions/.
  7. “DC Government.” AFGE. Accessed September 24, 2017. https://www.afge.org/about-us/agencies/dc-government/.
  8. “AFGE At A Glance.” AFGE. Accessed September 23, 2017. https://www.afge.org/about-us/afge-at-a-glance/.
  9. “Government Employees: Basic Information.” Union Facts. November 15, 2016. Accessed September 23, 2017. https://www.unionfacts.com/union/Government_Employees#basic-tab.
  10. “Why You Should Join AFGE.” AFGE. Accessed September 23, 2017. https://www.afge.org/member-benefits/join/.
  11. “Government Employees: Membership.” Union Facts. November 15, 2016. Accessed September 23, 2017. https://www.unionfacts.com/union/Government_Employees#membership-tab.
  12. “National Executive Council.” AFGE. Accessed September 23, 2017. https://www.afge.org/about-us/afge-national-leadership/national-executive-council/.
  13. “National Officers’ Executive Bios.” AFGE. Accessed September 23, 2017. https://www.afge.org/about-us/afge-national-leadership/national-officers-executive-bios/.
  14. “About Us.” AFGE.  Accessed September 23, 2017. https://www.afge.org/about-us/.
  15. “AFGE: Our Story is America’s Story.” AFGE. Accessed September 23. https://www.afge.org/about-us/afge-history/.
  16. American Federation of Government Employees, Annual Report of a Labor Organization (Form LM-2), 2016, Statement B
  17. American Federation of Government Employees, Annual Report of a Labor Organization (Form LM-2), 2016, Schedules 12 and 13, “Total Employee Disbursements”
  18. “Government Employees: Contracts – Federal Government. Accessed September 24, 2017. https://www.unionfacts.com/contracts/Government_Employees/Federal_Government.
  19. Center for Responsive Politics. “American Federation of Government Employees.” Open Secrets. Accessed September 24, 2017. https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/totals.php?id=D000000304&cycle=2016.
  20. Gearan, Anne. “Largest federal employee union endorses Clinton. The Washington Post. December 10, 2015. Accessed 24, 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/12/10/largest-federal-employee-union-endorses-clinton/?utm_term=.3ab3dc63f42c.
  21. “Government Employees: Political Spending.” Union Facts. November 15, 2016. Accessed September 24, 2017. https://www.unionfacts.com/union/Government_Employees#political-tab.
  22. “Why You Should Join AFGE.” AFGE. Accessed September 24, 2017. https://www.afge.org/member-benefits/join/.
  23. “Partners.” No Kings. Accessed June 25, 2025. https://www.nokings.org/partners.
  24. Nomani, Asra. “Asra Nomani: The Familiar Hidden Hand behind Today’s #nokings Protests.” Fox News, June 14, 2025.https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/asra-nomani-familiar-hidden-hand-behind-todays-nokings-protests.
  25. “Government Employees: Crime, Corruption & Racketeering.” Union Facts. November 15, 2016. Accessed September 24, 2017. https://www.unionfacts.com/union/Government_Employees#crime-tab.
  26. Torres, Alec. “’Official Time’ and the Veterans Affairs Scandal/Sick veterans languish on waiting lists while VA employees work full-time for unions.” Capital Research Center. October 20, 2014. Accessed September 24, 2017. https://capitalresearch.org/article/labor-watch-official-time-and-the-veterans-affairs-scandal-sick-veterans-languish-on-waiting-lists-while-va-employees-work-full-time-for-unions/.
  27. Davidson, Joe. “VA scandal fallout: federal employee groups fight over ‘hit list’ targeting managers.” The Washington Post. August 20, 2015. Accessed September 24, 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/federal-eye/wp/2015/08/20/va-scandal-fallout-federal-employee-groups-fight-over-hit-list-targeting-managers/?utm_term=.97d748ed4eb0.
  28. MacDonald, Elizabeth. “Federal Government’s ‘Hall of Shame.’” Fox Business. February 12, 2015. Accessed September 24, 2017. http://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/2015/02/12/federal-governments-hall-shame.html.
  29. “Official Time.” AFGE. Accessed September 24, 2017. https://www.afge.org/take-action/campaigns/official-time/.
  30. Kovacs, Trey. “Union Official Time Breeds Corruption.” Competitive Enterprise Institute. June 10, 2015. Accessed September 24, 2017. https://cei.org/2015/06/10/union-official-time-breeds-corruption.
  31. Wheeler, Lydia. “Federal workers on edge over Trump call for firing power.” The Hill. February 1, 2018. Accessed February 8, 2018. http://thehill.com/regulation/371878-trumps-targeting-of-federal-workforce-puts-unions-on-edge
  32. Davidson, Joe. “Top federal union ousts second-highest leader during a critical time for feds.” The Washington Post. August 18, 2017. Accessed September 24, 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/08/18/top-federal-union-ousts-second-highest-leader-during-a-critical-time-for-feds/?utm_term=.494fbb773052.
  33. Davidson, Joe. “Trump’s disruption of government could aid top federal employees, survey says.” The Washington Post. January 17, 2018. Accessed February 8, 2018. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2018/01/16/trumps-disruption-of-government-could-aid-top-federal-employees-survey-says/?utm_term=.d1a978202afd
  34. Davidson, Joe. “Internal political turmoil hits largest federal union as Trump, GOP target government workers.” The Washington Post. October 10, 2017. Accessed February 8, 2018. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/10/10/internal-political-turmoil-hits-largest-federal-union-as-trump-and-gop-target-government-workers/?utm_term=.61e05fb120ef
  35. Trumka, Richard. “Why I quit Trump’s business council.” The New York Times. August 16, 2017. Accessed February 8, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/16/opinion/richard-trumka-trump-business-council.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FAmerican%20Federation%20of%20Labor-Congress%20of%20Industrial%20Organizations
  36. Freeman, James. “Government Workers Union Backs Republican Plan to Reopen Government.” Wall Street Journal Opinion, October 27, 2025. https://www.wsj.com/opinion/government-workers-union-backs-republican-plan-to-reopen-government-f6e9f91b?st=GohaN4&reflink=article_email_share
  37. Blanc, Eric. “Democrats Caved in the Shutdown Fight. Unions Let Them.” Jacobin, November 10, 2025. https://jacobin.com/2025/11/democrats-shutdown-end-unions-afge.
  38. “National President Everett Kelley.” American Federation of Government Employees, Accessed July 15, 2025. https://www.afge.org/about-us/afge-national-leadership/national-officers-executive-bios/Everett-Kelley/
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: December - November
  • Tax Exemption Received: October 1, 1940

    • Available Filings

    Period Form Type Total revenue Total functional expenses Total assets (EOY) Total liabilities (EOY) Unrelated business income? Total contributions Program service revenue Investment income Comp. of current officers, directors, etc. Form 990
    2022 Dec Form 990 $73,189,275 $69,218,582 $95,803,014 $55,949,071 N $878,407 $72,747,727 $1,228,052 $2,914,758 PDF
    2021 Dec Form 990 $75,527,624 $66,717,550 $72,236,723 $75,053,535 N $4,567,657 $72,389,480 $589,237 $3,143,912 PDF
    2020 Dec Form 990 $75,251,198 $64,382,277 $60,905,671 $97,453,555 N $943,090 $75,953,692 $494,696 $4,473,396
    2019 Dec Form 990 $79,791,936 $70,577,822 $52,365,196 $97,906,927 N $827,276 $79,377,742 $298,975 $3,616,867
    2018 Dec Form 990 $83,877,022 $88,900,295 $40,676,397 $80,888,412 Y $1,556,217 $81,465,339 $233,610 $3,653,395 PDF
    2017 Dec Form 990 $82,464,200 $86,850,101 $46,424,029 $89,498,317 N $1,569,398 $79,913,193 $248,139 $3,862,555 PDF
    2016 Dec Form 990 $80,756,111 $86,001,855 $46,046,527 $77,793,157 N $1,349,033 $77,960,920 $296,852 $3,605,704 PDF
    2015 Dec Form 990 $74,066,765 $78,917,220 $45,795,818 $74,176,170 N $861,235 $71,011,460 $423,870 $4,460,058 PDF
    2014 Dec Form 990 $74,807,126 $72,686,211 $49,055,613 $72,784,286 Y $917,389 $68,835,530 $842,646 $3,377,711 PDF
    2013 Dec Form 990 $73,419,601 $68,630,362 $58,890,654 $66,311,891 Y $804,492 $68,445,641 $672,882 $3,407,706 PDF
    2012 Dec Form 990 $70,721,340 $70,996,898 $49,208,814 $90,976,427 Y $708,000 $67,150,581 $697,064 $3,420,042 PDF
    2011 Dec Form 990 $67,036,107 $66,646,070 $45,980,353 $78,160,088 Y $537,899 $63,771,543 $617,104 $3,097,242 PDF
    2010 Dec Form 990 $64,506,339 $63,236,151 $47,241,047 $67,141,848 Y $702,508 $61,490,710 $626,492 $3,127,612 PDF

    Additional Filings (PDFs)

    American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE)

    80 F ST NW
    WASHINGTON, DC 20001-1528