In just a few months, the Trump administration has demonstrated its willingness to abandon workers and undermine their wages and working conditions. This includes repeated attacks to the Department of Labor (DOL)—the federal agency that oversees federal wage and hour laws, worker safety, workforce development, and employee benefits protection programs. Anti-worker nominations to key DOL positions—currently under Senate consideration—pose future risk to workers’ rights. 

In January, Trump rescinded Executive Order 11246, which enforced anti-discrimination protections and equal employment opportunity requirements in federal contracting—effectively halting the work of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. In March, Trump rescinded an executive order that raised the minimum wage for federal contractors, which could cut these workers’ wages anywhere from 25% to 60%. In early April, the Mine Safety and Health Administration—a DOL subagency—announced they were delaying the enforcement of the Biden-era silica rule for coal miners, increasing the risk of coal miners being exposed to silica dust.  

Most recently, Trump’s DOL asked to pause litigation on the Biden-era overtime pay rule, seemingly indicating that the department plans to rescind the rule that expanded the right to overtime pay for 4.3 million workers. DOL also announced it would stop enforcing a Biden-era rule that made it harder for employers to misclassify workers as independent contractors, potentially costing workers thousands of dollars each year.  

In addition to policy changes, Trump has put forward nominations that could impact workers’ rights. Trump nominated Jonathan Berry as the Solicitor of Labor, who is now awaiting his Senate confirmation hearing. Berry authored the Project 2025 section on the Department of Labor, which dangerously calls for weakening the federal minimum wage, limiting overtime eligibility, and repealing prevailing wage requirements for federally funded construction projects. If confirmed, Berry will be DOL’s chief legal officer with independent authority to initiate lawsuits enforcing federal labor laws. 

But that’s not all. Reports suggest that roughly 20% of DOL’s workforce has taken some form of retirement or buyout since Trump took office. This “voluntary” reduction in DOL staff will negatively impact the agency’s services, including enforcement of labor laws, funding of workforce development, and publication of credible labor market data. Trump continues to advance an anti-worker agenda by proposing a 35% cut to DOL’s budget in the administration’s fiscal year 2026 budget request. EPI will continue to monitor actions from the Trump administration, Congress, and the courts that impact workers at Federal Policy Watch.