DOJ Asks for Delay in Overtime Rule Appeal to Reconsider Whether to Proceed

The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Jan. 25 asked the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals for a 30-day delay in submitting its brief in the ongoing appeal of a federal judge's injunction that stopped a new overtime rule from taking effect on Dec. 1, 2016. The delay is meant to give the Trump administration time to consider its next move -- whether to continue the proceedings or drop the issue. The appeal reached the New Orleans-based circuit court after a U.S. district judge in Texas issued a nationwide injunction against the final rule by the Department of Labor (DOL). That rule would have increased the overtime-exempt salary threshold from $23,660 a year to $47,476 annually. In response to the DOJ action, the AFL-CIO asked the court to intervene on behalf of the appeal in the government's place. “We intervened because we’re concerned whether or not the Trump administration will continue to support the overtime rule,” AFL-CIO lawyer Yona Rozen told Bloomberg News.