Legislation drafted by the Bush Administration to merge twenty-six federal agencies into a new Department of Homeland Security contained language which would restrict the ability of DHS employees from negotiating collective bargaining agreements. During debate on the bill, Congressman Quinn (R-NY) offered an amendment which would allow the president to nullify collective bargaining agreements for national security reasons. In the view of Progressives, DHS employees should be afforded the same labor rights as other federal employees and opposed the Quinn amendment for that reason. Enabling the president to suspend collective bargaining agreements in the interest of national security, Progressives argued, would provide the president with an undue influence over federal employees; the term "national security", Progressives pointed out, could be used by the president to justify nullifying collective bargaining agreements in a host of circumstances that may or may not directly pertain to U.S. national security. The Quinn amendment was adopted on a 227-202 vote.