Trump is dismantling Obama's workplace law legacy

The White House is systematically dismantling former President Barack Obama's legacy on labor and employment regulations, reversing course on changes Obama made to overtime law, business liability, federal contract bidding and worker exposure to harmful circumstances, among other policies.

The latest move came late Thursday when the Labor Department announced it would start the process of rescinding the "persuader rule," which forced labor lawyers to publicly divulge whenever they were hired by businesses. Previously the contracts only had to be divulged when lawyers spoke directly with workers. The rule, which unions applauded, was widely expected to cause many lawyers to stop the consulting altogether. A Texas court in April declared the rule unconstitutional.

Such efforts have been made easier by the Obama era changes being reinterpretations of existing rules or other uses of executive authority. That allowed the White House to adopt the changes without congressional legislation. It also has allowed its successor administration to undo those efforts with relative ease.

"Things of that nature are just a lot easier to rescind," Trey Kovacs, labor policy analyst with free market Competitive Enterprise Institute, wrote in an email. "Some of it easier than other parts. You still have to (in most cases) follow the Administrative Procedures Act and give notice that you're making a new rule. That can take up to a year. But a lot of the Obama rules were taken to court."

In the latter cases, the administration can simply not fight the court if the rules are struck down. That's the apparent tactic the Trump administration is taking in regards to the Obama administration's rule expanding the number of workers covered by overtime. Under Obama, the annual salary a worker had to make before being exempted was raised to $47,000, more than double the previous level. A Texas court struck it down late last year, a ruling the Obama administration swiftly appealed. The Trump administration has requested two extensions from the court in filing a reply in the case.