Washington, D.C. — By undoing a Biden-era regulation that raised the minimum wage for private sector workers on federal contracts to $17.75 per hour, the Trump administration has made some federal workers vulnerable to a pay cut of up to 25 percent, a new column from the Center for American Progress finds. Without this regulation, many workers for federal contractors could now be paid a minimum of only $13.30 per hour.

This new column explains how rolling back this minimum wage protection is a significant blow to hundreds of thousands of workers. The 2021 Biden administration regulation boosted wages for 327,300 workers, amounting to an average wage increase of $5,228. Not only were these workers previously earning wages below $15 an hour, but they were also disproportionately workers without a college degree. This move by the Trump administration to repeal the $17.75 minimum wage makes private sector workers on federal contracts vulnerable to wage cuts since other existing standards, such as the Service Contract Act and Davis-Bacon Act, often exclude workers or offer much lower minimum wages.

“The Trump administration claims to be here to support working-class people, but at every chance they get, they reverse hard-earned regulations that have been pivotal to helping workers on federal contracts increase their wages,” said Aurelia Glass, policy analyst for Inclusive Economy at CAP and author of the column. “These are blatant attempts to make it harder for workers to make ends meet, further proving that the administration’s policies fail to put American workers first.”