DOL, Independent Agency Regulations Frozen by Biden Memo

The Biden administration’s move to freeze pending Trump-era regulations halted a high-stakes Labor Department rule that would make it easier for businesses to designate their workers as independent contractors, and forces other federal workplace agencies to address rules that didn’t take effect before Inauguration Day.

The order, signed by President Joe Biden’s chief of staff on Jan. 20, immediately bars further advancement of rules that hadn’t been published in the Federal Register. A Biden-designated agency head must review or approve the rule before it can move on. Any rules sent for publication in the Federal Register also must ...