The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has granted a request filed last week by the Trump Justice Department to delay oral arguments scheduled for February 5, 2025 in a lawsuit challenging the Biden Labor Department’s (DOL) SWACCA-supported independent contractor final rule making it harder for employers to treat their workers as independent contractors. The Justice Department said the delay was necessary to provide the new Trump DOL “with sufficient time to familiarize” itself “with these issues and determine how they wish to proceed.” The move to delay the independent contractor hearing is the first in what may be many withdrawals from litigation involving Biden-era regulations at the Labor Department and other agencies. Other Biden-era Labor Department final rules issued within the last two years that remain in litigation include regulation on prevailing wage and overtime standards.
