Attorney General Hilgers Announces Victory in Nebraska-Led Challenge to Federal Contractor Minimum Wage

Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers announced a federal appellate victory this morning in Nebraska v. Su. The case, which Nebraska brought with Idaho, Indiana, and South Carolina, challenges the legality of the federal contractor minimum wage. That policy affects employers who employ one-fifth of the U.S. workforce. A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit agreed with Nebraska’s arguments, holding that the Biden Administration acted unlawfully and exceeded its statutory authority. 

“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,” stated Attorney General Mike Hilgers.

Near the beginning of his term in office, President Biden imposed a nationwide $15 minimum wage on federal contractors. The policy relied on the same authority used by the Biden Administration to impose a federal contractor COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Nebraska v. Su is the first federal appellate court case to hold the federal contractor minimum wage invalid.