U.S. Department of Labor
The U.S. Department of Labor is the federal executive department responsible for enforcing wage, workplace-safety and employment anti-discrimination law. Entries naming it from 2025 onward record changes to which protections it enforces and decisions not to pursue particular categories of case.
Also known as DOL
2026 Events (2)
Documents revealed federal agencies spent nearly $1M on Trump-image lobby banners; DOJ — which enforces the Hatch Act — led the spending
On July 24, 2026, documents published by E&E News/Politico and PBS showed that the U.S. Department of Justice spent nearly $1 million on large banners displaying President Trump's face in its Robert F. Kennedy Building headquarters, while the Departments of Agriculture, Labor, and the Interior installed similar Trump-image banners at their headquarters buildings. The DOJ is the federal agency responsible for enforcing the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal agencies from using government resources for partisan political purposes.
Labor Assistant Secretary Aronowitz issued guidance curtailing EBSA fiduciary enforcement amid deep staff cuts
On April 14, 2026, Labor Department Assistant Secretary Daniel Aronowitz issued Field Assistance Bulletin 2026-01, directing the Employee Benefits Security Administration to pull back from case-by-case enforcement of retirement- and health-plan fiduciary violations and instead develop new legal theories only through formal rulemaking. The guidance followed roughly 100 staff departures at EBSA during 2025 amid broader federal workforce cuts and required senior-leadership review of significant enforcement actions going forward. Aronowitz, who ran a fiduciary-liability insurance firm before his confirmation, also barred any appearance of coordination between EBSA investigators and private plaintiff attorneys amid an ongoing DOL Inspector General inquiry into that practice.
2025 Events (5)
U.S. Department of Labor issued H-2A wage rule UFW says cut farmworker pay up to $7 an hour, bypassing required rulemaking procedures
On October 2, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor issued an interim final rule overhauling how it calculates H-2A farmworker wages, shifting to state-level Bureau of Labor Statistics data and adding a disputed housing-cost adjustment that, according to the United Farm Workers, cut wages by up to $7 an hour for many workers. The rule took effect immediately, bypassing the standard notice-and-comment rulemaking process, and DOL estimated it would transfer $2.46 billion annually from farmworkers to employers.
Sen. Schiff report reveals USDA, Labor, and HHS departments spent over $55,000 in taxpayer funds on Trump tribute banners
On September 15, 2025, Sen. Adam Schiff released an oversight report revealing that the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Labor, and Health and Human Services had contracted to display large Trump-tribute banners on their Washington, D.C. headquarters, including an 88-foot HHS banner promoting Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s "Make America Healthy Again" slogan. The three contracts totaled more than $55,000 in taxpayer funds, which Schiff's report said violated the federal appropriations-law ban on spending public money for "publicity or propaganda purposes."
Five federal agencies simultaneously stripped immigrant access to life-safety benefit programs, revoking 24 years of DOJ guidance
On July 10-11, 2025, five federal departments — Justice, Health and Human Services, Education, Agriculture, and Labor — simultaneously issued notices rescinding decades-old guidance that had protected immigrant access to federal benefit programs under the "necessary to protect life or safety" exception in the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. The DOJ withdrew its 2001 Attorney General interpretation identifying which programs qualified, effective August 15, 2025; HHS rescinded a 1998 policy keeping Head Start, community health clinics, and Title X accessible; the Department of Education revoked its 1997 guidance covering adult education and postsecondary programs. Multiple states sued immediately.
Labor Department suspended H-2A farmworker protection enforcement, eliminating organizing and wage safeguards for guestworkers
On June 20, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division issued a memorandum directing field staff to immediately suspend enforcement of the Biden administration's H-2A final rule on farmworker protections. The rule had guaranteed more than 300,000 H-2A guestworkers rights to concerted activity, progressive termination standards, and wage disclosure obligations. DOL directed staff to revert to pre-rule standards and stated only that it was "currently evaluating" the rule — providing no timeline and leaving workers without federal enforcement indefinitely.
Trump signed EO 14173 revoking 60-year affirmative action requirement for federal contractors, directing AG to investigate private-sector DEI
On January 21, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14173, "Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity," revoking Executive Order 11246 — the 60-year-old Johnson-era requirement mandating affirmative action and equal employment opportunity for federal contractors. The order directed the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to cease all affirmative action and diversity workforce enforcement, and required all future federal contracts to include a certification that the contractor operates no DEI programs, exposing contractors to False Claims Act liability. The order also directed the Attorney General to compile enforcement recommendations against private-sector DEI programs within 120 days.