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**Womp Womp: Walz Whiffs on Trump Overtime Truth
Oh, shocker! Trump, the 'champion' of the working class, didn't bother to back Obama's overtime pay raise. Because heaven forbid the 1% lose a penny while the rest of us make ends meet. Thanks, Donnie!
Published August 25, 2024 at 5:04am by
Tim Walz
Statement: Former President Donald Trump “cut overtime benefits for millions of workers.”
Oh boy, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz went full scorched earth on Trump, at least that's what the vibe is. Speaking at the Aug. 14 convention of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Walz laid it on thick, claiming that former President Donald Trump "cut overtime benefits for millions of workers." Check out the full takedown here.
But hold your horses, folks. Walz might have gone a tad overboard.
So, when we dug into it (because journalism!), we found out that while Obama had indeed proposed extending overtime pay to more workers, a federal judge smacked down the rule in November 2016, just before it was supposed to roll out. Trump's administration? They just kinda let sleeping dogs lie and did not challenge the decision. Instead, they came up with their own overtime rule, which, let's face it, wasn't as worker-friendly as Obama's dream.
Let's break it down for ya:
Overtime Rules under Obama vs. Trump
Most employees are eligible for time-and-a-half pay if they log more than 40 hours a week. But if you're a white-collar worker making more than $455 per week and work on salary, you miss out.
Obama wanted to change that. In 2016, he tried to extend overtime eligibility to white-collar workers earning less than $913 a week, or $47,476 a year. That's a big jump from the previous $455 a week or $23,660 a year. This change would've hooked up about 4.2 million additional Americans with overtime pay.
Cue the drama: Republican states and business trade groups sued, and a federal judge in Texas halted the rule a week before it was supposed to kick in. Read all about it here.
Trump took office a few months later and—plot twist!—his administration didn't defend Obama's rule. Instead, they came up with their own, which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2020. This one raised the overtime pay eligibility to $35,568 a year, which, yeah, is more than the old standard but not quite the gold medal compared to Obama's proposal.
Did Trump really cut overtime benefits?
Well, not exactly. He didn't defend Obama’s 2016 rule, and the Trump administration’s rule excluded millions of workers who would've benefited from the 2016 rule. But to say he cut existing benefits is a bit of a stretch because Obama's rule never actually went into effect.
"By abandoning the 2016 rule and eventually introducing a new one with a significantly lower salary threshold, the Trump administration excluded millions of workers who would have benefited from the 2016 rule’s new or strengthened overtime protections,” said Jenn Round, director of Beyond the Bill, a program advocating for labor standards enforcement at Rutgers University Workplace Justice Lab.
But let's keep the facts straight: Trump starting fresh with his own rules doesn’t mean he specifically cut overtime levels that were in place.
And in case you’re thinking this fight is over, the Biden-Harris administration got in on the action too. They set a new rule, effective July 1, that initially raised the salary threshold for overtime pay to $43,888 annually. It’s slated to hit $58,656 by Jan. 1, 2025. But, because drama loves company, there are at least three lawsuits challenging that rule.
PolitiFact's Ruling
Walz said Trump "cut overtime benefits for millions of workers." Here’s the deal:
Yes, Trump's decision not to continue defending Obama’s rule meant millions of workers were left out of potential overtime pay. But calling it a cut is misleading because Obama’s rule wasn’t even in effect when Trump took office.
We rate this claim Mostly False.
Our sources
Read more: Fact-check: Tim Walz misleads about Trump on overtime pay