Congress moves to slash wages for temporary farm workers
H.J.Res. 154 — Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Labor relating to the Adverse Effect Wage Rate. · Filed by Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) · 19 cosponsors · Introduced Mar 26, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This resolution blocks a Department of Labor rule that changed how the government calculates the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR)—the minimum wage that employers must pay foreign H-2A temporary agricultural workers. The rule, issued in October 2025, altered the methodology for setting this wage floor in non-range occupations. By disapproving it, Congress voids the rule and restores the prior wage-calculation method, potentially lowering the wage floor for temporary farm workers.
Why we flagged it
The resolution's operative effect is to lower the wage floor for temporary agricultural workers by restoring a prior, less-generous AEWR methodology. This directly benefits agricultural employers by reducing their labor costs, while harming the earnings of temporary workers.
What the text implies
- Restoring the prior AEWR methodology may suppress wages not only for H-2A workers but also for domestic agricultural workers in the same occupations, as employers face reduced pressure to offer competitive wages.
- The resolution targets a rule issued by the Biden administration in October 2025; its passage would represent a reversal of executive labor-protection policy and signal congressional intent to limit DOL wage-setting authority.
- H-2A workers are non-citizens with limited legal recourse and no union representation; lowering their wage floor increases their vulnerability to exploitation and may worsen working conditions across the agricultural sector.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The resolution restores a lower wage floor for temporary H-2A agricultural workers, who are among the most vulnerable workers in the U.S. labor market. While this may reduce labor costs for agricultural employers, it directly harms the earnings and bargaining power of foreign temporary workers and may suppress wages for domestic agricultural workers competing in the same labor market.
Who stands to gain
- agricultural employers and farm operations
- labor-intensive agricultural producers
Named in the bill
Department of Labor, H-2A Nonimmigrant Program, Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR), Federal Register (90 Fed. Reg. 47914), Ms. Lofgren, Mr. Pocan, Mr. Norcross, Mr. Espaillat, Ms. Jayapal, Mr. Raskin, Ms. Omar
Where it stands
19 cosponsors: 19 Democrats.
- Mar 26, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Mar 26, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
2 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $10,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 3 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 41% of bills with at least one filing.
Zoe Lofgren, the sponsor, reported $462,479 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Ufw Foundation — $10,000 on 1 filing
- United Farm Workers — $0 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 22, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,179 characters) on Apr 14, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 22, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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