Texas AFL-CIO Files Motion to Intervene in DOL Final Rule Lawsuit, Citing Trump Administration’s Anticipated Change of Course

The Texas AFL-CIO recently filed a motion to intervene as a defendant in the action filed against the Department of Labor (DOL) regarding its highly publicized regulation expanding overtime coverage. Fearing the DOL under President-Elect Donald Trump might abandon its appeal to the Fifth Circuit of a nationwide preliminary injunction issued by a Texas District Court judge, the Texas AFL-CIO seeks to defend the Final Rule even if the DOL backs out.  The motion cites specifically an op-ed piece written by Puzder to Forbes after the Final Rule was issued where he stated the rule would “add to the extensive regulatory maze the Obama Administration has imposed on employers,” and not benefit workers.  Regardless of how the Fifth Circuit rules on the appeal or how the District Court decides the AFL-CIO’s attempt to intervene, Puzder’s criticisms of the DOL regulation and a Republican-controlled Congress could mean one of Secretary of Labor Perez’s signature regulations, for which the DOL spent more than two years developing, may be on life support.  The new Congress could simply pass legislation that would invalidate the rule and present it to President-Elect Trump.