On Wednesday, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals granted the Justice Department's additional unopposed request for a 60-day extension to figure out its position on the new FLSA overtime exemption rules.
The stated reason for the government's unopposed request was to "allow incoming leadership personnel adequate time to consider the issues." Nevada v. DOL, No. 16-41606, Motion For Extension to File Reply (Feb. 17, 2017).
Presumably, the request for additional time is to permit the Senate to confirm the Trump administration's new Labor Secretary, Alexander Acosta, and let him weigh in on the new rules. But the extension runs only to May 1, and it is not clear that the Senate could confirm Mr. Acosta and permit him to guide the government's position by this new deadline.
Meanwhile, the district court in Texas is still considering the business groups' motion for summary judgment to permanently invalidate the new rules and the Texas AFL-CIO's motion to intervene in the case. A decision granting the summary judgment motion could moot the appeal if the district court enters a permanent injunction before the Fifth Circuit rules.
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