(The Washington Post published the following article by Juliet Eilperin on October 3.)
WASHINGTON — In a sharp rebuff to the Bush administration, the House reversed course yesterday and voted to oppose the White House’s efforts to rewrite overtime pay rules. The action marked a significant victory for Democrats and labor leaders, who contended the administration’s plans would deny overtime benefits to millions of employees when they work more than 40 hours a week.
While the 221 to 203 vote is not binding, it essentially overturns earlier House approval and puts the chamber on record as supporting the Senate, which opposes the new regulations. House-Senate negotiators trying to resolve legislation to fund the Labor Department and other agencies will have difficulty allowing the proposed overtime changes to go forward, lawmakers said.
Yesterday’s vote highlights congressional Republicans’ growing unease over the economy, and their increasing willingness to defy the White House on contentious issues. Seven Republicans switched their votes yesterday after supporting the GOP leadership position in a July roll call.
“I just had to represent the concerns of my district,” said Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.), who had voted with the majority when the House voted 213 to 210 in July to back the administration. He estimated that 10,000 white-collar workers in his district would have to renegotiate their contracts if the Labor Department proposal went through.
The administration is seeking to revamp 1938 labor rules by expanding overtime protections for low-wage workers while making it easier for employers to exempt many higher-paid workers. The Senate voted last month to block any curtailment of overtime coverage, although its bill would allow the administration to broaden overtime eligibility for low-wage workers. While the House version of the bill still differs from the Senate’s, yesterday’s vote instructed House conferees to back the Senate position.
Under the administration’s proposed rules, workers making as much as $22,100 a year would automatically qualify for overtime pay if they were not already collecting it. The current cap is $8,060 annually. Most workers getting $65,000 or more, on the other hand, would no longer qualify because employers could treat them as managers or other employees who are ineligible for overtime pay.
The House was lobbied heavily by the White House and GOP congressional leaders in July when it first voted. Those leaders employed similar tactics yesterday — Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) buttonholed lawmakers on the floor, and Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao called wavering Republicans — but they fell short.
Most of the seven Republicans who switched are from economically struggling states such as Michigan and West Virginia. Twenty-one Republicans joined 199 Democrats and one independent in voting to block the proposed administration rules, while two Democrats joined 201 Republicans in supporting the changes.
The two sides differ on how many jobs would be affected. The administration says 1.3 million low-wage Americans would become eligible for overtime pay — generally 150 percent of normal wages — while 644,000 employees would lose eligibility. A study by the Economic Policy Institute indicates that as many as 8 million workers could lose overtime coverage.
“The Bush administration should not put American workers in the position to work more than 40 hours a week without overtime,” Rep. David R. Obey (D-Wis.) said during the debate. But Rep. Ralph Regula (R-Ohio) said the administration simply is trying to “bring the rules on overtime into the new century.” The AFL-CIO and other labor groups generated thousands of calls to lawmakers’ offices urging opposition to the administration plan, while House GOP leaders privately urged rank-and-file members to stand with the White House.
After the vote, Republican leaders played down its significance, saying it would have no effect on negotiations with the Senate. “We won when it counted,” said Burson Taylor, spokeswoman for House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), alluding to the July vote.
The administration has threatened to veto the Labor-Health and Human Services spending bill if it includes the Senate position on overtime, which would prompt a showdown with Congress. But House Democrats say Republicans will have trouble pressing for the Bush plan when the unemployment rate remains high and families struggle to pay bills.
AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney said yesterday’s vote should persuade the administration to stop trying to change overtime rules. “Both houses of Congress have now spoken, and they have directed President Bush not to take away overtime pay from working families,” Sweeney said.
Stephen Hess, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said the vote showed Bush no longer commands the influence in Congress that he did a few months ago. “It says the president is wounded,” Hess said. “This is the sort of thing that doesn’t happen when the president’s approval ratings are at 70 [percent] rather than at 50.”