New Federal Contractor Minimum Wage Hike Heads to Court

Crowell & Moring – On February 8, 2022, just days after the Department of Labor’s Final Rule “Increasing the Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors,” implementing Executive Order (“EO”) 14026, went into effect, five states – Arizona, Idaho, Indiana, Nebraska and South Carolina – filed a lawsuit – in Arizona federal district court, seeking, among other things, a court order invalidating  the federal contractor minimum wage Final Rule and EO 14026.   These five states argue that EO 14026 exceeds the President’s authority under the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act and that Congress has not otherwise delegated authority to the Executive Branch to enact a rule with such wide-sweeping effects on the American economy.