Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers announced a legal victory today in the case of Nebraska v. Su, where a federal appellate court sided with Nebraska and other states challenging the federal contractor minimum wage policy. The lawsuit, joined by Idaho, Indiana, and South Carolina, questioned the legality of a policy impacting employers who hire one-fifth of the U.S. workforce.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that the Biden Administration exceeded its statutory authority with this policy. Attorney General Hilgers stated, "Our victory is a win for separation of powers and the Constitution. The people’s representatives in Congress set a minimum wage. Nothing allows the President to override that and invent his own minimum wage for federal contractors. We will continue to fight this Administration’s unlawful exercises of authority."
President Biden had introduced a $15 minimum wage for federal contractors early in his term, using similar authority as was used for imposing a COVID-19 vaccine mandate on federal contractors. This case marks the first instance where an appellate court has declared such a federal contractor minimum wage invalid.