DOL defending Trump-era overtime rule

The Biden administration is defending the Trump-era overtime rule in the Western District of Texas in an attempt to quash a lawsuit claiming Congress never delegated the broad authority to the Department of Labor (DOL) to issue such regulations as it prepares to expand overtime requirements for workers.

The Trump administration had raised the salary threshold of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to $35,568. The Biden administration is arguing the DOL has the authority to update the overtime test and that Congress explicitly granted the agency the authority to “define and delimit” exemption to overtime pay requirements. The plaintiff is arguing the FLSA “simply exempts” any employee who meets the job duties from overtime, regardless of how much they make and if the act “empowers the Secretary to dictate salary level requirements,” it violates the “nondelegation doctrine because the statute provides no direction as to whether (or how) the Secretary should develop salary level rules.”

Jessica Looman approved by Senate HELP Committee
On March 28, 2023, President Joe Biden’s second nominee to head the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) was finally approved by the Senate HELP Committee by a party-line vote. Jessica Looman—who has been running the division as principal deputy administrator for some time—had failed to receive the committee’s approval 11 to 10. This was after she was approved by the committee in November 2022, but the Senate didn’t vote on her nomination before the end of the session.