by CUPA-HR | December 10, 2024
Over the past few weeks, President-elect Donald Trump has announced several nominations for leads at federal agencies. Of relevance to CUPA-HR members, Trump has nominated Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR) to serve as secretary at the Department of Labor (DOL) and Linda McMahon to serve as the Department of Education (ED) secretary. The following analysis dives into how Chavez-DeRemer and McMahon may lead each agency’s regulatory action on a few of the most pressing policy issues.
DOL Secretary
FLSA
Chavez-DeRemer was nominated to serve as labor secretary on November 22. Chavez-DeRemer was viewed as a surprising pick for many in the labor and employment policy space given her Congressional record and support from labor unions. Her nomination raises questions about the direction in which DOL will go under the Trump administration with respect to certain policies and regulations, such as the overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), joint employer regulations, and independent contractor regulations.
As a reminder, the Biden administration’s overtime regulations were struck down in federal court on November 15. The ruling strikes down all components of the Biden administration’s rule, including the July 2024 and January 2025 salary thresholds and the triennial automatic updates. On November 26, however, the Biden administration filed a notice of appeal to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in hopes of reinstating the rule before their term ends.
Chavez-DeRemer has not publicly supported or opposed the Biden administration’s overtime rule, but labor unions have supported the rule through regulatory comments and public statements. Many anticipated that a second Trump administration’s DOL would stop defending the Biden rule in court if the Biden administration chose to appeal. Given organized labor’s support of Chavez-DeRemer, there is a chance that DOL under her authority would continue to defend the rule in court. However, it appears unlikely that the rule in its entirety would be defended, and it is more likely that DOL would attempt to defend the July salary threshold only. As a reminder, the salary threshold increase that took effect on July 1, 2024, used the Trump administration’s 2019 overtime rule methodology to determine the level, which could lead to a possible reasoning for defending the July salary threshold level.
Joint Employer and Independent Contractor Rules
Similar to the overtime regulations, the future of other labor and employment regulations relevant to higher ed HR appears uncertain in the face of Chavez-DeRemer’s nomination. Two DOL regulations — the joint employer and independent contractor rules — seem certain to swing back in favor of policies like those implemented under the first Trump administration, but Chavez-DeRemer’s inconsistent record in Congress on both issues makes it unclear how DOL under Trump will regulate them.
Notably, Chavez-DeRemer is one of three Republican cosponsors of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, a Democrat-backed bill that would expand organized labor’s power over workers and employers. There are provisions in the PRO Act that a second Trump DOL is not anticipated to implement, including provisions to apply a controversial “ABC” test for worker classification under the National Labor Relations Act and to adopt a broader joint employer standard under the NLRA than the standard implemented by the Trump administration. Given her support for the PRO Act, Chavez-DeRemer could change direction from the anticipated actions expected from the Trump administration with respect to joint employment and independent contractor status, along with other labor policies.
Education Secretary
Linda McMahon was nominated to serve as ED secretary on November 19. McMahon’s nomination was also considered a surprise, but for reasons surrounding her previous experience. During Trump’s first term, McMahon served as the administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, and most recently, she served as co-chair of Trump’s transition team. She was previously an executive for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). With respect to education, McMahon served as a trustee for Sacred Heart University for over a decade, and she also briefly served on the Connecticut Board of Education.
Title IX
McMahon’s previous positions and experience do not provide much insight into her stance on higher education policy. That being said, we expect that McMahon will largely follow the education policy direction of President-elect Trump if she is confirmed. With respect to Title IX, it is expected that Trump will seek to reimplement his administration’s 2020 Title IX regulations nationwide, which we anticipate McMahon will follow. It remains to be seen if McMahon and the Trump administration’s ED will attempt to issue new Title IX regulations that may be more conservative than those issued in 2020 to address concerns regarding rights and protections for transgender students.
Looking Ahead
Both Chavez-DeRemer and McMahon will face Senate confirmation hearings by relevant oversight committees and votes by the full Senate. During confirmation hearings, more information about the nominees’ priorities at their respective agencies will be revealed. CUPA-HR will keep members apprised of any updates related to the confirmation process of Chavez-DeRemer and McMahon as well as regulatory updates from DOL and ED.
