Trump axes Biden-era federal contractor raises

President Donald Trump issued a Friday order removing the $17.75 per hour minimum wage for federal contractors enacted by former President Joe Biden. Trump’s order rolled back over a dozen Biden-era policies the order characterized as harmful. Biden’s 2021 order raised the minimum wage for federal contractors to $15 per hour in early 2022, which increased incrementally to $17.75 per hour by January 2025. About four out of every 10 people who work for the government are private contractors, according to a 2017 study referenced by the Project on Government Oversight.

What other actions did Trump rescind? Trump’s order removed 19 Biden-era actions in an attempt to end what the White House referred to as radical ideology, while prioritizing the interests of American citizens, according to the Trump administration. Other policies removed include:

• Biden’s order elevating gender ideology within U.S. diplomacy and foreign aid

• Biden’s mandates for electric heat pumps and solar panels

• Biden’s mandates around apprenticeship in American businesses and government agencies

• Biden’s directive to prioritize union-endorsed policies that enacted more regulations within industries

• Biden’s order that funneled federal resources into biotech and biomanufacturing initiatives for the sake of environmental policy

Dig deeper: Read my report on another executive order Trump made on Friday.