Loper Bright already affecting Biden regulations

With its 2024 Loper Bright decision, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the long-standing doctrine of Chevron deference, under which courts deferred to federal agencies’ interpretation of a statute when the text was ambiguous. The decision is already affecting numerous federal regulations.

5th Circuit considering whether to remand Trump OT case

The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has asked attorneys representing the Department of Labor (DOL) and Dairy Queen operator Robert Mayfield whether they should send the case on the Trump administration overtime rules back to the district court to consider after the Supreme Court’s decision in Loper Bright.

The appeals court had been considering Mayfield’s appeal over the dismissal of his lawsuit seeking to overturn the Trump administration’s updated overtime rule. The Trump administration had increased the salary basis test for exempt employees. Mayfield had argued the language of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) allowed the DOL to consider only an employee’s job duties in determining whether a job was exempt. So far, the parties have argued against sending the case back to the district court, saying the district court had already resolved any legal issues absent Chevron deference.