Nevada AG Sounds Off on Obama's Overtime Rule

A federal judge in Texas on Tuesday blocked the Obama administration’s “overtime rule.”

The directive, which was issued by the U.S. Department of Labor and would allow millions of Americans to qualify for overtime pay, was ruled unconstitutional. According to the White House, the new rule “doubles the salary threshold—from $23,660 to $47,476 per year—under which most salaried workers are guaranteed overtime.”

Nevada’s Attorney General Adam Laxalt, who was part of the fight against the rule, joined the FOX Business Network’s Cavuto: Coast to Coast to discuss the implications of the decision.

“The ruling was a great ruling for businesses and for states and for workers all across the country,” he said. “It’s the type of rule that attorneys general continue to fight against. Rules that are outside the scope of what congressional authorities should have allowed [the] Department of Labor to do. So we think it’s a tremendous victory and we’re certainly hoping that this gives the Trump administration time to address this issue and give our businesses and our states some relief.”

Laxalt said the proposed law doesn’t make sense, since salaries across the country differ from town to town. He also believes this overtime rule is one reason why Donald Trump was able to “swing the Rust Belt” and convince voters that he can get the American economy back on track.

“I can tell you this rule looks good in Washington when it’s designed, but its actual effect in states like Nevada and across the country means businesses can’t hire new workers,” Laxalt said. “People that were previously working ‘X’ are now converted to salary and they actually could lose money. And so this is the kind of policy that I think that the country rejected and they don’t want Washington to fix these things.”