What They Are Saying About David Weil

President Biden’s Nominee for Administrator of the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division

*Research compiled by International Franchise Association

“Dr. Weil would prefer that small business owners in our state and I serve as collateral damage and lose the equity we’ve sunk into our businesses if it meant boosting union membership. The irony is that he touts these theories and policies as equalizing solutions that help the little guy against large corporations.” – John Motta, Coalition of Franchisee Associations, 8/4/21

“We write to urge your opposition to the nomination of David Weil to be Administrator of the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division…America’s workers and employers deserve better.” – Coalition of 11 advocacy organizations, 8/3/21

“Weil’s self-proclaimed war on “fissure workplaces,” he intends to end the practices of outsourcing, franchising, and independent contracting. The fact that these practices are responsible for millions of jobs and free up resources to innovate is unimportant to people like Weil…The last thing lawmakers should be doing on the other side of a global pandemic is hampering the ability of businesses and workers to get back on their feet. on both sides of the aisle should be wary of confirming such an individual.” – Taxpayers Protection Alliance, 7/20/21

“The Biden administration is pressing Congress to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, a legislative monstrosity that would eliminate right-to-work states and turn union bosses into the masters of workplaces everywhere. Should they fail to sneak the bill through as part of a budget-reconciliation measure (Senate rules could make that hard), the White House will deputize the Labor Department to implement as much of it as possible through regulatory fiat. Mr. Weil would be a chief enforcer, and history shows he won’t be shy.” – Kim Strassel, Wall Street Journal, 7/16/21

“President Biden’s nomination of David Weil to be Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division at the Department of Labor shows that this administration is more focused on taking away an individual’s right to negotiate their own labor contracts than following current law as set by Congress. David Weil held the same position during the Obama administration, which he used to attack independent contractors and franchise employees by circumventing Congress to essentially enact parts of the PRO Act.” –Heritage Action for America, 7/16/21

“Franchises have been a springboard for millions. But David Weil wants to shut you down. Franchises exist in the restaurant industry, the child care sector, the hospital industry and more. But David Weil doesn’t like it. Because he wrote a paper on it. So he’s coming after you, too. Which is ironic considering the President’s recent executive order aimed at promoting competition when David Weil’s world view will instead lead to extraordinary consolidation and less competition. Millions will suffer as a result of his policies, but that’s ok, because he wrote a paper about it and he knows better than decades of real world experience with franchises around the country.” – Senator Richard Burr, 7/15/21

“Whether we’re weaponizing, the IRS or we’re weaponizing, the Wage and Hour Division, my concern is just the increased legal burden and the costs that your office created, historically. 93% increase in litigation, after your interpretation regarding the joint employer, we lost 376,000 job opportunities. Are you aware of the impact of the litigation costs to a small business that you are putting on people, and do you feel like it’s justified to now retrospectively?” – Senator Roger Marshall, 7/14/21

“The International Franchise Association along with dozens of other organizations, contacting my office, ringing off the wall. There’s many fears that your return to Wage and Hour will directly immediately pose a threat to their business models with potential to put countless Americans out of jobs. Your past actions have shown that you believe in organized labor above all else, even when that comes at a cost of jobs themselves.” – Senator Tommy Tuberville, 7/15/21

“Should Weil actually become director the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, it is likely he’ll push through his reinterpretation of the FLSA and other laws and end up spending a lot time in courts defending it. A better plan to help workers than forcing them into the role of employees might be to maximize their freedom under the law.” – Competitive Enterprise Institute, 7/15/21

“As the American workforce evolves, our policies need to evolve with it – instead of restricting it. Dr. Weil should recognize this and the fact that the overwhelming majority of app-based workers do not want to be confined to an outdated workforce model that no longer serves a majority of Americans. We urge the Committee to encourage Dr. Weil to listen to workers and not take away their independence.” – App-Based Work Alliance, 7/15/21

“What is of course most troubling is that Weil’s blatant agenda has effect on Americans looking to take advantage of opportunities provided in gig economy, independent contracting, and related small business opportunities. The 21st Century reality is that millions of workers are purposefully choose to perform independent contracting work to make a better living for themselves and their families. That includes underserved communities such as Latinos, who represent an outsized share of America’s independent contractors, meaning that they would be disproportionately harmed by the types of radical regulations pushed by Weil.” – Hispanic Leadership Fund, 7/14/21

“Several business groups are calling on the Senate to oppose President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead a key division of the Labor Department, arguing that he could take a wrecking ball to small businesses… Michael Layman, vice president of federal government relations with the International Franchise Association, told the Washington Examiner that Weil is an “anti-small business ideologue” and said that there has been a huge amount of opposition from small businesses to his nomination.” – The Washington Examiner, “Business groups raise alarm Biden nominee would threaten independent contractors,” 7/14/21

“Dr. David Weil has spent his career attacking the gig-economy and advocating for an expanded joint-employer standard that would destroy the franchise economy, harm hundreds of thousands of small local businesses and risk millions of jobs. With him in charge of DOL’s Wage and Hour Division, we can expect him to do everything in his power to push his radical agenda through this administration…We strongly urge Congress to reject Dr. Weil’s nomination to protect the millions of jobs supported by the gig-economy and franchise industry.” – Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, 7/13/21

“Based on his previous service at DOL, and his track record of bias against employers, particularly the smallest employers in America, we are concerned that Dr. Weil would implement policies at the DOL that are unbalanced and would harm workers and small businesses, in particular women and minority-owned businesses that employ millions of Americans. For these reasons, we urge the Committee to reject Dr. Weil’s nomination.” – Coalition of 14 national trade associations, 7/13/21

“David Weil, President Biden’s pick to run the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division, is facing fierce opposition from several business groups…Business lobbying groups, including the National Restaurant Association, National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors and International Franchise Association (IFA), sent a letter to committee leaders Tuesday urging them to reject Weil’s nomination.” – The Hill, “Business groups lobby against key Biden labor nominee,” 7/13/21

“[The PRO Act] not only hurts businesses, it ultimately also limits and hurts countless families who are choosing to live, work, and raise their kids in freedom in New Hampshire. She should also reject the nomination of radical professor David Weil, who has been nominated by the Biden administration to serve as the Labor Department’s administrator for the Wage and Hour Division. The truth is, Weil, who held the same position in the Obama administration and has a clear track record, cannot be relied upon to follow the clear intention of laws passed by Congress.” – Army veteran and small business worker Howard Ray, 7/13/21

“The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has concerns regarding the nomination of David Weil to be the Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) at the Department of Labor (DOL). As WHD Administrator during the Obama Administration, Dr. Weil took positions on critical questions under the FLSA. This includes whether an employee would be exempt from overtime, finding joint employment relationships, and whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor.” – U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 7/13/21

“On behalf of FreedomWorks’ activist community, I urge you to contact your senators and ask them to vote NO on David Weil’s nomination to the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour division. This consequential nomination is both divisive and out of step with the needs of the recovering economy.” – FreedomWorks, 7/12/21

“It’s clear that Weil is on the opposite side of sound economic theory on virtually every issue, making him uniquely unfit to again serve as WHD chief. Employers and workers alike need certainty from the federal government, but if confirmed, Weil would stack the deck against small businesses by making it much more difficult for them to survive and thrive. We strongly urge Senators to stand with taxpayers, businesses, and workers by rejecting the nomination of Weil to the Wage and Hour Division.” – National Taxpayers Union, 7/12/21

“Weil is a radical academic with no private sector experience that is anti-free enterprise to his core. If confirmed, Weil will work overtime to destroy the franchise business model that employs 7.6 million Americans nationwide.” – Americans for Tax Reform, 7/9/21

“In June, President Biden announced the nomination of David Weil to head the Department of Labor’s Wage and Administration Office. The position is charged with protecting the pay of all workers. An American Accountability Foundation investigation into his suitability to serve in office brought to light several disturbing facts which should disqualify him from holding this office.” – American Accountability Foundation Report, 7/9/21

“It’s easy for Mr. Weil, who as The Wall Street Journal noted is a “lifelong, left-wing academic with labor union sympathies, no private-sector experience or legal training and limited management experience” to favor such destructive public policies. But for the tens of millions of Americans whose jobs, businesses and consumer benefits would be negatively impacted by Mr. Weil’s policies, it’s a much more critical – and personal –matter. David Weil’s nomination is far outside of the mainstream and should be rejected by the U.S. Senate.” – Center for Individual Freedom, 7/6/21

“Following a pandemic that harmed so many small businesses, the Senate is faced with the question of whether David Weil’s biased advocacy and unbalanced approach to the regulated community deserves a second stint at the wage and hour agency. One may say about Weil’s nomination: “fool us once, shame on you. But fool us twice, shame on us.” The U.S. Senate should not be fooled by Weil a second time, and it should reject his nomination.” – International Franchise Association, 6/29/21

“Reinstating Weil as head of the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division would represent a return to the same bureaucratic overregulation so prevalent in the Obama administration as well as a further rebuke of the deregulatory strides made in the Trump administration.” – FreedomWorks, 6/23/21

“Based on Weil’s extensive record in the Obama administration and his anti-free enterprise views, it is obvious that Weil does not deserve a second chance at DOL to further his harmful agenda. Members of the Senate HELP Committee should reject David Weil to lead DOL’s Wage & Hour Division.” – Americans for Tax Reform, 6/24/21

“Unless Weil provides ironclad assurances during his upcoming hearing in the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee that he will not target small businesses and contractors, Senate Republicans should view this nomination as a proxy vote on the PRO Act and reject his nomination. The lives and livelihoods of millions of workers and businesses hang in the balance.” – Taxpayers Protection Alliance, 6/18/21

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