The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has granted an injunction in a lawsuit that is challenging the Biden administration's authority to set wage policy for outdoor recreation companies. That means the $15-an-hour mandate will not be effective, at least while the litigation continues, for more than 40,000 companies.
Michael Poon, an attorney for the Pacific Legal Foundation, which is representing several outdoor rec companies, says Biden signed an executive order in April 2021 using the Procurement Act to demand the $15 hourly salary. That legislation allows the President to obtain goods and services, from office equipment to military gear, in an efficient manner.
“But what the government is trying to do here,” the attorney insists, “is to extend that to people like my clients, who are recreational firms who hold federal permits.”
The federal government claimed those tens of thousands of privately-owned businesses should be considered federal contractors because they hold a federal permit, but the federal court said President Biden lacks the authority to set such a rule.
That claim of a federal contractor, says Poon, goes "far beyond the bounds" of what the Procurement Act allows.
"Major policy decisions, like a $15-an-hour minimum wage, should be decided by Congress and not the president,” the PLF attorney says.
