The Biden administration’s pro-labor regulatory agenda at the Department of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board will continue.

Expect the administration to finalize proposed Labor rules, such as the independent contractor rule, while moving forward on work to update Davis Bacon standards that govern wages for contractors.

NLRB will continue to take a pro-labor posture, with a Democratic board majority assured through 2024.

Watch for the administration to revisit the overtime regulation and seek other ways to bolster workers in light of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act’s difficult path to passage.

Republicans will likely:

• Try to constrain DOL and NLRB through cuts to their budgets and extreme oversight, as well as pass budget riders to block DOL from finalizing proposed rules.
• Devote particular oversight to potential conflicts of interest at the NLRB, the NLRB’s General Counsel, DOL involvement in labor disputes and the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment.