Employment, Safety Nominations Advance. This week, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) advanced the nominations of Brittany Panuccio to serve on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and Jonathan Snare to serve on the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC). If confirmed, Panuccio would join Acting Chair Andrea Lucas and Commissioner Kalpana Kotagal to reconstitute a functioning quorum at the Commission. OSHRC, on the other hand, has no commissioners at all, so Snare would need another nominee to join in order to return a quorum to OSHRC. Notably absent from the voting docket was Crystal Carey, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Carey had her hearing in conjunction with Panuccio’s but faced some tough questions from Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO). Republicans enjoy only a one-seat majority on the HELP Committee, so one defection significantly impacts the vote calculus.
H-1B Wage Selection Rule on the Way? U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) a proposed rule titled “Weighted Selection Process for Registrants and Petitioners Seeking To File Cap-Subject H-1B Petitions.” At this stage in the rulemaking process, the proposal is not publicly available. When OIRA completes its review, USCIS will release the proposal, and stakeholders will have an opportunity to file written comments with the agency.
The title of the proposal is very similar to a rule that was finalized during the waning days of the first Trump administration titled “Modification of Registration Requirement for Petitioners Seeking To File Cap-Subject H-1B Petitions.” This regulation discarded the H-1B lottery in favor of a wage-ranking system. The Biden administration delayed the effective date of this regulation before withdrawing the regulation after it was vacated by a federal court. The Buzz suspects that this pending proposal will be very similar to the 2021 regulation that was finalized but never went into effect.
House Committee Advances Employment Bills. This week, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce voted to approve the following bills:
- Modern Worker Empowerment Act (H.R. 1319). This bill provides an easy-to-understand test for determining independent contractor status under both the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). There is a companion bill in the U.S. Senate (more on that below).
- Modern Worker Security Act (H.R. 1320). This bill would allow employers to provide benefits to workers (e.g., health insurance) without those benefits triggering a finding of employment status. There is a similar bill in the U.S. Senate called the Modern Worker Empowerment Act.
- Save Local Business Act (H.R. 4366). This bill would codify a “direct and immediate control” joint employer standard under the NLRA and FLSA.
- Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Endorsements (SCORE) Act (H.R. 4312). The bill would set national standards for college athletics, and clarifies that student athletes are not employees.
Next stop for these bills will be a vote on the House floor, if Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) determines that they are priorities and have the votes to pass.
Senators Examine Portable Benefits Legislation. On July 17, 2025, the U.S. Senate HELP Committee held a hearing, “Freedom to Work: Unlocking Benefits for Independent Workers.” Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who chairs the HELP Committee, undoubtedly scheduled the hearing to coordinate with the recent release of his independent worker legislative package. Witnesses testified that many independent workers enjoy the flexibility and entrepreneurship that exist outside of a traditional employer-employee relationship. Accordingly, some described the concept of portable benefits as a “game changer.” Others espoused the benefits of expanding the availability of association health plans to independent contractors. Not surprisingly, a union official witness criticized the bills, describing them as denying workers employment-based legal protections. Instead, he suggested that the U.S. Congress focus on the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. Ranking Member Bernie Sanders (I-VT) used the hearing to promote his Pensions for All Act, which would require employers to provide employees with defined benefit pension plans.
House Republicans Examine EBSA, Seek More Transparency. On July 22, 2025, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce’s Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions held a hearing entitled, “Restoring Trust: Enhancing Transparency and Oversight at EBSA.” The hearing focused on ways to improve transparency and accountability at the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), qualities that Republicans on the committee claim were lacking at the agency during the Biden administration. Lawmakers and witnesses discussed these bills:
- The EBSA Investigations Transparency Act (H.R. 2869), which would require EBSA to submit an annual report to Congress detailing which offices have opened enforcement investigations, how long those investigations are taking and other enforcement-related information.
- The Balance the Scales Act (H.R. 2958) would require EBSA to provide notice to an employer or employee benefit plan administrator when providing adverse assistance to plaintiff attorneys via “common interest agreements.” The bill would also require a report to Congress about EBSA’s use of such agreements.
As a reminder, Daniel Aronowitz, President Trump’s nominee to lead EBSA, has advanced through the Senate HELP Committee and is awaiting a full confirmation vote on the Senate floor.
For Whom the Bell Tolls. On July 24, 1888, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a resolution providing for legislative signal bells throughout the U.S. Capitol to alert members of various legislative proceedings. Bells announcing quorum calls, votes, and recesses ensure that members can conduct business away from the floor without missing important developments—or sometimes not-so-important developments. (In 1946, Michigan Representative Roy Woodruff used the bell system to locate his misplaced hat.) Construction of the Old House Office Building (later renamed after then-Speaker Joseph Cannon) in 1908 included the installation of the legislative bell (and light) system. The system, in conjunction with the incorporation of modern technology, is still used today.