Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
When President Obama's plan to expand overtime protections to millions more workers goes into effect, one surprising group might be left out: Capitol Hill staffers. Even though many congressional staffers make less than the $50,440 a year under which salaried workers would be eligible for overtime pay, Congress would need to agree to give it to them. But Republicans don't want to talk about that—
they're still deciding how hard to go after the nationwide overtime expansion:
“When it becomes final, we could consider overturning it. And we’ll consider doing that,” Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said about the broader overtime rule in a brief interview. Obama’s directive is “a very bad rule.”
Alexander cautioned: “We haven’t made a decision yet.”
The new rule would allow virtually all workers who make below $50,440 per year to get overtime pay. Republicans have largely denounced the proposal, arguing that it encourages employers to cut hours to skirt the rule and reduces worker flexibility. But the GOP has yet to mount a robust push for a new law to override Obama’s directive.
Please, guys, hold off on that one until 2016? I'd love to watch "Republicans move to deny overtime protections to millions of workers" play out in an election year.