Oklahoma U.S. Sen. James Lankford and some of his supporters contend the Biden administration has got it wrong again…..this time in its attack on independent or freelance contractors.
He and Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, M.D. introduced a Congressional Review Act measure of disapproval. It would overturn the Department of Labor’s (DOL) final worker classification rule that threatens the gig or freelance economy and jeopardizes the ability of 27 million Americans to work as independent contractors.
This comes as the DOL final rule was released earlier this year. US Representative Kevin Kiley (R-CA) introduced the companion resolution in the US House of Representatives.
Independent contractors, or freelancers, make their own hours to fit their schedule and decide where and how they want to work. The Biden Administration rule attempts to restrict the ability of American workers to be an independent contractor and take advantage of the flexibility it provides.
Sen. Lankford and the others contend the rule creates a non-exhaustive, six-factor litmus test for unelected bureaucrats to interpret and decide who is and who is not classified as an independent contractor. It also casts as large a net as possible and gives less legal certainty to independent contractors impacted by the regulation.
“The Biden Administration is trying to force businesses and workers to operate like it is 1950 rather than 2024. More and more workers want the flexibility and the power to be their own boss as an independent contractor, but President Biden wants to force them into union contracts or employee status,” said Lankford.
“Oklahoma workers and employers should have more flexibility, not less, in their choices of which types of jobs they want to pursue and hire. We should stop this rule to keep the Biden Administration‘s overreach away from Oklahoma workers and businesses.”
“The Biden Administration’s priority should not be to do whatever makes it easier to forcibly and coercively unionize workers. It should be to increase individual freedom and opportunity,” said Dr. Cassidy. “This new Biden rule does the opposite, jeopardizing 27 million workers’ ability to make their own hours and make a living without being pressured into joining a union.”
Lankford and Cassidy are joined by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senators John Barrasso (R-WY), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Mike Braun (R-IN), Ted Budd (R-NC), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Susan Collins (R-ME), John Cornyn (R-TX), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Steve Daines (R-MT), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), John Hoeven (R-ND), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), John Kennedy (R-LA), Mike Lee (R-UT), Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-KS), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Jim Risch (R-ID), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Rick Scott (R-FL), Tim Scott (R-SC), John Thune (R-SD), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), and Roger Wicker (R-MS) in cosponsoring this resolution.
Source: Lankford release
