FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
29 August 2025
Contact: Jin.Choi@mail.house.gov
Rep. Barragán Leads Letter to DOL to Protect Labor Rights for Home Care Workers
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Congresswoman Nanette Barragán (CA-44), a member of the Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Health, led 37 of her colleagues in a letter to Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Chavez-DeRemer opposing the Trump Administration’s proposed rule to rescind federal minimum wage and overtime protections for in-home care workers.
“Home care workers are the backbone of our communities, providing essential support that allows our loved ones to continue to live at home with dignity,” said Rep. Barragán. “We should be strengthening labor rights—including livable wages and overtime pay—to ensure that home care workers receive the support, respect, and dignity that they deserve. Instead, Trump’s proposed policy changes would dismantle key labor protections and risk worsening inequities for workers who too often already face low wages and poor working conditions.”
“At a time when working families are struggling to find affordable care for aging parents and loved ones with disabilities, the Trump administration is shamefully rolling back basic protections to push the largely Black, Latina, and immigrant home care workforce even deeper into poverty,” said Leslie Frane, Executive Vice President of SEIU. “Home care workers are the backbone of our care economy and deserve to be respected, protected, and paid living wages.”
“Care work is the work that makes all other work possible,” said Ai-jen Poo, President of National Domestic Workers Alliance and Executive Director of Caring Across Generations. “The Department of Labor’s proposal to repeal minimum wage and overtime protections is an insult to the dedicated workers who care for our loved ones and a direct threat to the stability of our care system. To celebrate Labor Day while trying to open the door to sub-minimum wages for one of our fastest-growing workforces is hypocrisy at its worst. This isn’t only about fairness for workers; it’s about how we treat the aging and disabled, and how much we value an economy that works for families.”
“Justice in Aging stands with Rep. Barragán in opposing the rescission of basic labor protections for direct care workers who are essential to enabling older adults to age at home,” said Amber Christ, Managing Director of Health Advocacy at Justice in Aging. “On the heels of enacting the largest cuts to Medicaid in the program’s 60-year history, this proposed rule would force the lowest paid care workers, people with disabilities, and older adults to pay the price. This double blow—shrinking Medicaid funds paired with diminishing an already undervalued, underpaid workforce—harms older adults and people with disabilities dependent on Medicaid home-based care, the economic security of these essential workers, and the integrity of the long-term care system by deepening the caregiver shortage.”
The letter is signed by Reps. Alma Adams (NC‑12), Yassamin Ansari (AZ‑03), Becca Balint (VT‑AL), André Carson (IN‑07), Greg Casar (TX‑35), Yvette Clarke (NY‑09), Danny Davis (IL‑07), Debbie Dingell (MI‑06), Lloyd Doggett (TX‑37), Veronica Escobar (TX‑16), Dwight Evans (PA‑02), Lois Frankel (FL‑22), Sylvia Garcia (TX‑29), Jesús García (IL‑04), Pramila Jayapal (WA‑07), George Latimer (NY‑17), Summer Lee (PA‑12), Stephen Lynch (MA-08), Jennifer McClellan (VA-04), James McGovern (MA‑02), LaMonica McIver (NJ-10), Grace Meng (NY‑06), Gwen Moore (WI‑04), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC‑AL), Alexandria Ocasio‑Cortez (NY‑14), Ilhan Omar (MN‑05), Mark Pocan (WI‑02), Delia Ramirez (IL‑03), Jan Schakowsky (IL‑09), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Mark Takano (CA‑39), Shri Thanedar (MI‑13), Rashida Tlaib (MI‑12), Jill Tokuda (HI‑02), Marc Veasey (TX‑33), Maxine Waters (CA‑43), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ‑12).
The letter is endorsed by Care in Action, Caring Across Generations, Justice in Aging, National Alliance for Caregiving, National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA), PHI, and SEIU.
The full text of the letter can be found here.
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Congressmember Nanette Barragán represents California’s 44th District. She sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and works on environmental justice, healthcare, and digital equity issues.