House Panel Passes Bill to Quash DOL Independent Contractor Rule

Members of the House Education and the Workforce Committee voted this week to advance their version of a bill that seeks to invalidate the independent contractor classification and reporting rules recently adopted by the Biden Labor Department.

As detailed on Congress.gov, the Republican-controlled committee voted 21 to 13 to advance House Joint Resolution 116 to the full House. A similar bill remains in committee in the Senate, congressional records show.

According to the House and Senate bills’ backers, the legislation is intended entirely invalidate the rulemaking under chapter 8 of title 5 of the United States Code, which grants Congress the authority to review and potentially block agency rulemaking.

Supporting lawmakers say the rules are arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act and that they also violate the Regulatory Flexibility Act.

Similar arguments have also been raised in litigation filed by a variety of industry groups representing trucking companies, retailers, chambers of commerce and other interested parties — including trade groups in the financial services industry, where advisors commonly work as independent contractors.