Judge Trump blocks overtime pay for four million workers

A federal judge in Texas on Friday struck down a new Biden administration rule aimed at extending overtime protections to millions of workers.

Judge Sean D. Jordan of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas ruled that the Department of Labor exceeded its authority in promulgating the regulation earlier this year. He granted summary judgment to the state of Texas, which had sued to stop the rule from taking effect.

The overtime rule is one of the most ambitious economic reforms that President Joe Biden has pursued unilaterally through the federal rulemaking process. This would significantly increase the share of workers who are entitled to time-and-a-half pay when they work more than 40 hours per week.

But thanks to court battles like the one in Texas, the future of regulation was uncertain even before Donald Trump, who widely promised to undo Biden’s agenda, won the presidential election.

Jordan, whom Trump appointed to the bench in 2019 during his first term in the White House, had temporarily blocked the overtime rule in Texas in June. His latest order ends regulations nationwide, leaving the current, stricter overtime rules intact.

A Labor Department spokesperson did not immediately comment on the agency’s plans for the rule.

The agency may appeal Jordan’s order in hopes of keeping the rule in effect, but its defense will ultimately fall to the incoming Trump administration. A Trump campaign spokesperson declined to say what Trump’s position was on the Biden rule when asked by HuffPost in September.

Most hourly workers are entitled to time and a half when working overtime, but the rules are different for wage workers. Biden is trying to raise the so-called overtime wage threshold, the level below which most employees are automatically guaranteed overtime pay.

Trump had set the threshold at just $35,568 during his first term. Biden’s rule would raise it to $58,656 next year, so the threshold covers about 4 million additional workers. The threshold would then have been indexed to increase with inflation.

Major employer groups had strongly opposed the Biden rule, just as they did when former President Barack Obama tried to expand overtime protections to more workers. After all, raising the wage threshold would increase workers’ wages, and thus employers’ labor costs.

The Associated Builders and Contractors, which represents the construction industry, was among the groups applauding Jordan’s decision to repeal the rule. He said workers would have lost the “flexibility” afforded to managers and other employees who are exempt from the law.

“This would have disrupted the construction industry, particularly harming small businesses, limiting employees’ workplace flexibility in setting schedules and schedules, and harming opportunities for career advancement,” said Ben Brubeck, group vice president for regulatory and labor affairs, in a press release.