The Beltway Buzz is a weekly update summarizing labor and employment news from inside the Beltway and clarifying how what’s happening in Washington, D.C., could impact your business.
Mullin It Over. This week, the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs advanced the nomination of Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) to serve as the next secretary of homeland security. The committee’s 8–7 vote in favor of the nomination broke mostly along party lines, though Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) voted against Mullin’s nomination, while Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) voted for it. Accordingly, the next procedural step in the nomination process will be a confirmation vote on the Senate floor. President Donald Trump nominated Mullin on March 5, 2026, to replace outgoing Secretary Kristi Noem, who is scheduled to step down as homeland security secretary on March 31, 2026.
DOL Joint-Employer Proposal on the Move. On March 16, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) a proposed rule titled, “Joint Employer Status Under the Fair Labor Standards Act FLSA, Family and Medical Leave Act, and Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act.” At this stage of the rulemaking process, the proposal is not publicly available, but according to the abstract on OIRA’s website, the proposal “would guide WHD’s enforcement of [Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)] joint employer liability,...
A whistleblower failed to show he should get another chance to argue Amazon.com violated the False Claims Act by working with foreign companies to import fur products into the US without paying pr...