US judges appointed by Trump say Biden cannot dictate the minimum wage for federal contractors

Nov 5 (Reuters) – A divided U.S. appeals court said on Tuesday that Democratic President Joe Biden overstepped his authority by imposing a minimum wage for federal contractors, currently at $17.20 an hour.

“The administration’s preferred interpretation would vastly expand the president’s authority,” Judge Ryan Nelson wrote. “It would allow the President to require all federal contractors to certify that their employees are taking daily vitamins, living in smoke-free homes, exercising three times a week or, in extreme cases, even taking contraceptives to reduce associated absenteeism .” Birth and care.”

Nelson was accompanied by District Judge Danielle Forrest. Both judges were appointed by former Republican President Donald Trump.

The panel sent the case back to district court, where the states are likely to seek final reversal of Biden's order.

The White House and the U.S. Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Republican Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers called the ruling “a victory for the separation of powers and the Constitution” in a statement.

“The people’s representatives in Congress set a minimum wage. Nothing allows the president to override this and invent his own minimum wage for federal contractors,” Hilgers said.

Tuesday's ruling adds to a larger divide among U.S. appeals courts over the scope of the president's powers under the 1949 law, the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act, known as the Procurement Act.

The minimum wage for federal contractors rose to $17.20 an hour in January, more than double the federal minimum wage of $7.25 and higher than any U.S. state.

Nebraska and the other states that have filed suit argue that the president's authority to oversee federal contracting does not extend to setting wages and that Biden's order will be costly for the many state agencies that routinely win federal contracts becomes.

District Judge Gabriel Sanchez, a Biden appointee, said in dissent Tuesday that procurement law has been “an important lever” for decades for Democratic and Republican presidents to advance their political goals.

“President Biden’s executive order … reflects his determination that the federal government benefits from paying employees adequately for their work under federal contracts because higher wages increase productivity and improve the quality of their work,” Sanchez wrote.

The case is Nebraska v. Su, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 23-15179.

For the states: Eric Hamilton of the Nebraska Attorney General's Office

For the Department of Labor: Daniel Winik of the US Department of Justice

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Dan Wiessner (@danwiessner) covers labor and employment and immigration law, including litigation and policymaking. He can be reached at [email protected].