Posts tagged Congress
Déjà vu all over again as Trump administration move to protect freelancing
March 2, 2026 // Congress should take up legislation to codify a sensible standard that protects gig economy workers and settles the issue for good. Legislation to that effect, the Employee Rights Act, has been introduced and deserves congressional consideration.
Opinion: A win for 11.9 million workers
March 1, 2026 // Advocates for classifying more self-employed workers as employees are generally speaking on behalf of people who don’t want their help. Of the estimated 11.9 million Americans for whom independent contract work is their sole or main job, 80 percent prefer it to traditional employment, according to a 2023 survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Freelance Busting: ‘Absolute Stalemate’
February 20, 2026 // The nearly two-thirds of Americans who would prefer to be our own bosses need protection from this encroachment on our freedom to choose self-employment. So do the vast majority of us who are already independent contractors and wish to remain so. It’s beyond frustrating that the help we need may be a long time coming, especially at the federal level. Experts recently gathered to discuss the reality of the situation in Congress during an hourlong Federalist Society panel, where they minced no words about why the challenges in Washington, D.C., persist.
You paid $181 million for union bosses to negotiate against you in 2024, but the Trump administration is doing something about it
February 19, 2026 // Even the “usual” topics of labor-relations negotiations are not part of federal bargaining. As Molly Conway, who served as Chief of Staff to the Department of Labor in the first Trump administration, wrote in a primer for the Institute for the American Worker: Management rights and any matters “specifically provided for by Federal statute” are not bargainable. This includes pay, health insurance, retirement, and certain workplace insurance (e.g., workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance), among others. [citations omitted]
OPM’s Final “Schedule Policy/Career” Rule is Published
February 17, 2026 // On February 6, 2026, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) finalized its rule, Improving Performance, Accountability, and Responsiveness in the Civil Service, aka the “Schedule Policy/Career” rule, for federal employees in policy-influencing positions. Roles under this designation will be merit-based but at will and filled by presidential administrations instead of through the civil service system so that agencies can act quickly when serious performance or conduct failures arise. The rule takes effect March 9, 2026.
Webinar with The Federalist Society: Labor Law Reform on Capitol Hill: Opening Offer or Impasse?
February 17, 2026 // Last session saw no shortage of proposals in Congress for labor-law reform. In the Senate, lawmakers introduced proposals ranging from mandatory interest arbitration to bans on organizing undocumented workers. In the House, representatives proposed a range of union-democracy reforms, including a requirement for unions to poll their members before endorsing a candidate for president. And in between, scholars and practitioners offered their own ideas, including a proposal to transform the National Labor Relations Board into an article I court.
‘Guest worker permit’ bill draws labor union support, opposition from Nebraska’s labor commissioner
February 11, 2026 // A Nebraska “guest worker permit” bill for undocumented immigrants drew support Monday from the bulk of public testifiers, while the biggest pushback came from Nebraska’s labor commissioner and the proposer’s fellow lawmakers. State Sen. Dunixi Guereca of Omaha told the Legislature’s Business and Labor Committee that the Guest Worker Permit Act he introduced would set up a legal framework for undocumented immigrants to work in Nebraska — provided the federal government allows it. State Sen. Dunixi Guereca stands along South 24th Street in his South Omaha district in 2025 with business owner Martha Barrera. (Cindy Gonzalez/Nebraska Examiner) He called Legislative Bill 879 a “trigger law,” meaning that Nebraska would be ready to go if given the green light by the feds, but he said it would not bypass federal authority or grant a legal status.
Op-ed: Teachers’ unions have hijacked classrooms across the US to indoctrinate students with far-left propaganda
February 11, 2026 // The teachers’ unions fired the starting gun by blasting out anti-ICE propaganda to teachers, urging them to rally against immigration enforcement and turn schools into battlegrounds for their partisan fights. The National Education Association is also pushing teachers to print out immigration-related political propaganda posters and put them in their classrooms.
Federal Workers Win Another Layoff Reprieve in DHS Funding Bill
February 4, 2026 // The extension is a temporary win for public-sector unions that have sought to permanently extend the moratorium after the Trump administration used a combination of resignation incentives and formal RIFs to cut the federal workforce by about 219,000 in 2025. The moratorium was initially negotiated by Kaine, and will last only until DHS funding runs out on Feb. 13.
Congress guarantees furloughed feds’ back pay despite continued White House maneuvering
February 3, 2026 // The Office of Personnel Management removed citations of the 2019 Federal Employee Fair Treatment Act from its shutdown guidance last month, as the Trump administration continues to insist that the law guaranteeing all federal employees back pay after a shutdown doesn’t.