### Court Blocks Biden's Overtime Rule, Citing Overreach

A recent judicial decision has halted President Biden's attempt to expand overtime pay, posing yet another hurdle to his administration's labor reforms. The ruling, which can be contested in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, follows a series of judicial setbacks impeding Biden's goals, including student loan reform and enhanced antidiscrimination protections for transgender students.

The Department of Labor under Biden had justified the overtime pay expansion as crucial for ensuring fair recompense for the lowest-paid workers. This rule garnered support from the National Postdoctoral Association, which represents traditionally low-paid researchers and staff, lauding it as "a move in the right direction." However, the state of Texas and several business groups filed a lawsuit arguing that the policy would significantly elevate payroll expenses, thereby reducing job opportunities and work shifts.

Previously, a similar overtime rule by the Obama administration was blocked in 2017 by a different U.S. district judge, who reasoned that the salary threshold set for exemption was too high. This precedent greatly influenced Judge Sean Jordan’s recent national ruling. Appointed by former President Trump to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in 2019, Jordan concluded that the Biden administration's rule exceeded the agency's jurisdiction. According to Jordan, the rule's elevated salary component overshadowed other evaluative criteria such as an employee’s specific job duties.

In 2019, the Trump administration succeeded in modifying the salary threshold, increasing it from $23,660 to $35,568—a revision that marked a departure from the blocked Obama-era benchmark of about $47,000.

Representative Virginia Foxx, a North Carolina Republican and chair of the House education committee, welcomed Jordan’s decision. Foxx criticized the Biden administration for what she termed as persistent "government overreach" and expressed her approval of the court's acknowledgment of the burden these policies impose on employers, labeling them as detrimental to the U.S. economy.

"Once again, the Biden-Harris administration has had its hand slapped for government overreach. Is it ever going to learn?" Foxx said.