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Best Labor Day 2024 deals you can shop right now at all retailers
Sony
Labor Day weekend is just a few days away, so retailers have already kick started their Labor Day sales. For those who don’t know, Labor Day weekend is one of the biggest sales events of the year. It’s a great time to save on home, tech and travel essentials, especially high-priced products such as TVs, appliances, furniture and more.
For those who are itching to start their Labor Day weekend shopping now, we rounded up all the best early Labor Day sales available right now. The savings so far are impressive, with shoppers able to save up to 50% on indoor and outdoor furniture, kitchen essentials and premium mattresses. Shop some of our favorite retailers’ Labor Day sales and be sure to check back as we update this article with more Labor Day sales as they happen.
When is Labor Day 2024?
This year, Labor Day is on Monday, September 2, 2024.
When do Labor Day sales start?
Many brands have already started their Labor Day sales. It’s not uncommon for retailers to start their Labor Day sales ahead of the holiday to generate excitement (and additional sales) from shoppers.
Where (and on what) can we expect the best Labor Day sales?
The best Labor Day deals can usually be found on high-priced products, such as home appliances, outdoor furniture, TVs and computers. It’s also a great time for shopping mattress deals.
Labor Day is also a great time to score major discounts on home decor. That’s because retailers’ fall and Halloween inventory has already arrived, so stores are marking down prices on tons of products to clear their stores’ shelves and warehouses of summer products.
Best Labor Day 2024 deals to shop now
Here’s a roundup of the best Labor Day deals you can shop now, in advance of the holiday weekend.
- Away: The luggage brand that doesn’t do sales all that often is offering up to 50% off backpacks, carryalls, duffles, sling bags and more Away luggage.
- Amazon: The Amazon Labor Day sale is already live, with discounts across various shopping categories, including tech, kitchen, home, furniture and plenty of Weber grills. (You can find more of our Amazon Labor Day deal picks below.)
- Article: This premium furniture brand has put more than 450 of its products on sale for Labor Day. You could save up to $1,000 on side tables, armchairs, couches, beds, lighting, patio furniture and more.
- Avocado Mattress: The brand famous for its organic mattresses is offering 20% off their mattresses as well as 10% off on pillows, furniture, bath and body products, and robes and pajamas. You can also save 50% on the brand’s loungewear and Suvin and Hemp bedding.
- Casterly: This splurge-worthy furniture brand is offering shoppers up to $450 off purchases site-wide. You can also get up to 40% off on-sale items during Labor Day.
- EyeBuyDirect: The EyeBuyDirect Labor Day sale is on now. Right now you can buy one pair of eyeglasses at their already low price, plus save a whopping 65% off the second pair when you use promo code HOT65 at checkout. Check out more information about this sale on popular prescription eyewear.
- Eyeglasses.com – Save up to 50% on prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses. Use promo code CBSNEWS50 at check.out.
- Frontgate: The brand that bills itself as having “the world’s best outdoor furniture” is discounting its outdoor sets up to $2,200 off (you’ll also get free shipping with that purchase). Shopping for indoor furniture and decor? Don’t worry, there’s a discount for that (25% off site-wide, to be exact).
- Home Depot: The home improvement retailer’s Labor Day sale is happening now, with big savings on appliances, tools, outdoor power equipment, grills and patio furniture. Some of Home Depot’s best Halloween decorations are also on sale.
- Leesa: Save 30% on Leesa mattresses for Labor Day. You can score a free sleep bundle with the purchase of select mattresses, which includes a free pillow set and microfiber sheet set. You can also save 25% off bases and bedding as well as 15% off kids mattresses.
- LG: Save big on appliances this Labor Day with LG. The brand is offering discounts of up to 30% off on dishwashers, washers, dryers, washer towers, microwaves and more.
- Nolah Mattress: Nolah’s Labor Day mattress sale is one of the earliest we’ve seen, gifting shoppers with a site-wide discount of 35% off. But the deal gets even sweeter for CBS Essentials readers. Enter our exclusive Nolah promo code CBSNEWS50 at checkout and you’ll save an additional $50 off your already discounted mattress purchase.
- Pottery Barn: Shoppers will appreciate Pottery Barn’s Labor Day sale, which includes up to 60% off hundreds of the brand’s items, ranging from patio furniture to decorative accent pillows. (While you’re there, check out the new Pottery Barn Halloween collection.)
- Purple: Purple’s Labor Day sale is the biggest the brand has had so far this year. You can save up to $700 on mattresses and up to $300 on bases.
- Walmart: Don’t miss Walmart’s Labor Day sale, with deep discounts on TVs and more tech, home essentials and more. One of our favorite deals: The retailer’s bestselling 4-piece patio furniture set is clearance priced at $185, the lowest price we’ve ever seen.
- Wayfair: Save up to 70% ahead of Labor Day across Wayfair’s many home departments including furniture, outdoor, rugs, kitchen, lighting and more.
- West Elm: Labor Day is a great time to save on outdoor furniture from West Elm. The brand is offering up to 30% off all types of patio furniture, ranging from chairs to an outdoor kitchen. You can also shop their general sale section, which features up to 50% off on goods.
- Sam’s Club: If you’re not a Sam’s Club member yet, today is the perfect opportunity to join. New Club memberships are just $25, reduced from $50 (with auto-renew). There’s a $40 off discount on Sam’s Club Plus memberships too.
- Samsonite: Level up your luggage for fall travel by taking advantage of Samsonite’s The Perfect Getaway Sale. Save up to 40% off (when you add the code EXTRA10 at checkout) on suitcases, travel backpacks and travel accessories.
- Samsung: During Samsung’s Labor Day sale, you can save up to $1,300 on eligible refrigerators, up to $1,300 on laundry combos, up to $500 on dishwashers, and up to $900 on the company’s most popular induction ranges.
- Traeger: One of the best grill brands on the market is discounting select grills, including pellet grills, up to $300 for Labor Day.
- Tumi: Tumi, one of our favorite luxury travel brands is offering shoppers up to 40% off on luggage, travel backpacks, cosmetic bags, purses and even some of the brand’s phone cases.
Does Amazon have a Labor Day sale?
Yes. Amazon has already put loads of products on sale for Labor Day, including furniture, travel, kitchen, home and tech products. Scroll the brand’s deals page to find all of their Labor Day discounts. As Labor Day approaches though, we expect there to be plenty of limited-time and lightning deals, which could last anywhere from a few days (limited-time deals) to a couple of hours (lightning deals).
Apple iPad (9th generation): $199 (Save 40%)
Amazon
Amazon is a great place to score deals on a variety of Apple products. Case in point: You can get a new iPad for $199 at Amazon’s early Labor Day sale.
The ninth-generation Apple iPad offers 64 or 256 GB of space (price varies by size) and comes with all of Apple’s standard apps and features, including a front and back camera, perfect for pictures and FaceTime. The 10.2-inch Retina display will reveal a brilliant, crystal clear picture that will make watching your favorite TV shows or movies a near-immersive experience.
The Apple iPad (9th generation) has a 4.8-star rating out of more than 66,800 ratings on Amazon. One reviewer wrote, “I bought this for nursing school and it does everything I need it to! So far no issues with it and I’ve had it for six months.”
Another customer said, “This is my second iPad, and it works great. I can’t imagine using any other tablet brand, especially for internet browsing, gaming and work. Highly recommended.”
More early Labor Day deals at Amazon:
Best deals at Walmart’s Labor Day sale
Walmart has a ton of deals available right now across all its major categories. Tap the button below to shop Amazon’s current selection of deals, or read on for some of our top Walmart sale picks.
Costway four-piece patio rattan conversation set: Save 45%
Walmart
This is one of our bestselling products on CBS Essentials. Readers truly can’t stop buying it and we’re sure with this steeper discount, that won’t stop. This four-piece patio conversation set is popular for its affordability as well as its weather-resistant materials and modest size. You don’t need a big backyard to accommodate this patio furniture. It can seat between four to five people and comes in multiple cushion color options, including red and navy (price varies by color).
The Costway four-piece patio rattan conversation set has a 4.3-star rating on Walmart. One reviewer wrote, “I’m glad we purchased this patio furniture. It’s sturdy and holds up well to the weather and the many guests we’ve entertained this summer. We got many compliments on it. You cannot beat the price.”
Another customer wrote, “Looks exactly as pictured. Easy to assemble. Comfortable to just sit outside and relax. Love the color too!”
More early Labor Day deals at Walmart:
The best Labor Day deals at Wayfair
Furniture tends to go on deep discount during Labor Day, and Wayfair is one of our go-to places to shop for furniture online. Take a look at our top Wayfair sale picks this Labor Day.
Laurel Foundry Modern Farmhouse queen black Kawamoto bed: Save 68%
Wayfair
This is one of Wayfair’s most impressive markdowns ahead of Labor Day. The Kawamoto bed from Laurel Foundry Modern Farmhouse is vintage-inspired and designed to be able to blend in well with a variety of decor styles, not just rustic, farmhouse decor. The frame has a weight capacity of 800 pounds and features ample under-bed storage, perfect for storing extra bed linens and other home essentials.
This metal bed has a 4.7-star rating on Wayfair. One reviewer wrote, “The bed is super cute, and matches the decor I was looking for. Easy to assemble and very comfortable.”
Another customer said, “Beautiful bed. It fits perfectly in our old farmhouse, but would be just as beautiful in a more modern designed room too.”
More early Labor Day deals at Wayfair:
Best deals to shop at Target this Labor Day
Score deals on home goods and more at Target this Labor Day. Here are some of our top picks to shop there now.
Henckels Modernist 13-piece knife set with block: Save 69%
Target
Every home cook needs a great set of knives. The problem with knife sets though is that a quality one usually costs an arm and a leg. This Henckels knife set is on sale and comparatively, quite affordable, with shoppers able to save a whopping $372 on their purchase.
The set comes with every knife you’ll ever need, including 3- and 4-inch paring knives, a 5-inch serrated utility knife, a 7-inch hollow-edge santoku, an 8-inch chef’s knife, an 8-inch bread knife, four 4.5-inch steak knives, kitchen shears as well as sharpening steel, which will come in great handy when your knives need a tune-up. What’s more, they can be put in the dishwasher.
The Henckels Modernist 13-piece knife set with block has a 4.8-star rating on Target. One reviewer wrote, “Enjoy the balance and fine sharpness of these knives. I have never used a better set of knives. The stainless steel look also matches my kitchen decor perfectly.”
Grand Theft Auto V (PlayStation 5): $20 (50% off)
Target
This mega-popular racing, action and shooting game for the PS5 is currently on sale for 50% off at Target, so you’ll ay just $20. The game offers enhanced levels of performance with new graphics modes that feature up to 4K resolution (60 frames per second)
Beyond the high action of this rated-M (for mature) game, we love that it offers HDR support and showcases the best of what the PS5 can do when it comes to ray tracing, displaying texture quality, and offering quick loading. As a result, the world of Los Santos and Blaine County offer far more intense action than ever before.
Be sure to visit Hao’s Special Works at the Los Santos Car Meet. It’s here you’ll discover elite new vehicle upgrades and exclusive modifications. You can then take your high-performance vehicle to participate in HSW races, new time trials, and more.
More early Labor Day deals at Target:
Best Labor Day deals at Best Buy
If you’re looking for some great deals on popular tech and major appliances, head over to Best Buy, where you can currently save up to 50% on some bestselling major appliances. Plus, when you purchase select appliances at the Best Buy Labor Day sale, you get a bonus Best Buy gift card worth up to $500, too.
Samsung 3-door French door smart refrigerator: $1,700 (save $640) + $200 gift card
Best Buy
Many major appliances are on sale for Labor Day at Best Buy, including this popular Samsung 3-door, French door refrigerator. It offers 312 cubit feet of space and can create four types of ice. It features a flat-front french door refrigerator design with recessed drawer handle that will blend beautifully into your kitchen.
And like most of Samsung’s newest appliances, this fridge can be monitored and controlled using the SmartThings mobile app. Meanwhile, the adjustable slide-in shelf offers a flexible design, so you can slide it back to create more room for tall and bulky items.
For a limited time, not only is this refrigerator on sale for a whopping $640 off, but with you get a $200 Best Buy gift card as a bonus with your purchase.
GE 4.5 cubic foot high-efficiency top load washer: $560 (Save $240) + $50 gift card
Best Buy
If you’re seeking an affordable, 4.5 cubit foot capacity, top-loading washer, this GE appliance is not on sale for just $560, which is a savings of $240. Plus, you get a $50 Best Buy gift card as a bonus. The agitator-driven washer comes in white, with a matte-black control panel.
One notable feature is the durable, built-in, dual action agitator that provides better circulation and turnover of clothes. This results in a deep clean, while being gentle on your clothes. You can manually add up to 26 gallons of water to the washer, or let the washer optimize the water level with its auto-fill feature.
And if you’re looking for a matching dryer, Best Buy has the GE 7.2 cubic foot gas dryer on sale for $660, which is $200 off. You also get a $50 Best Buy gift card with the purchase of this appliance. The matching electric version of the dryer is on sale for $560, with a $50 Best Buy gift card included.
Samsung 14″ Galaxy Book Edge4 Copilot+ PC: $1,000 (save $350)
Best Buy
Here’s a chance to save $350 on one of the latest Windows laptops that offers the latest Microsoft CoPilot+ PC artificial intelligence integration built in. The laptop is powered using a Snapdragon X Elite processor and comes configured with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD for storage.
Beyond the advanced AI features, we love that this laptop offers a lovely 14-inch AMOLED touchscreen display with a 120Hz refresh rate. Battery life is up to 18 hours. Another notable feature is the laptop’s sound system, which includes four AKG speakers with a built in subwoofer.
This computer weighs in at just 2.62 pounds and is a mere 0.43 inches think when shut. It’s a great general purpose laptop that’s chock full of features offered at a very competitive price.
More early Labor Day deals at Best Buy:
Labor Day 2024 is almost here, which means Labor Day sales are live now. The shopping experts at CBS Essentials have scoured the best Labor Day sales at all your favorite retailers to bring you the best mattress deals, the best luggage deals, the best deals on major appliances, best patio furniture clearance deals and even the best tire deals to shop this Labor Day.
Investigators reviewing the emergency response to last year’s devastating wildfire on Maui said in a report released Friday they found “no evidence” Hawaii officials made preparations for it, despite days of warnings that critical fire weather was about to arrive.
That lack of planning and a misperception of the risk hindered efforts to evacuate the historic town of Lahaina before it burned, claiming 102 lives, the report said.
“While much of Hawaiʻi, including Maui, has a relatively high risk of wildfire occurrence, it appears the perception of this risk—at the local, state, and national levels—is not always aligned with the actual, growing threat wildfires pose to the population and built environment,” the report said. “This gap between risk perception and reality seems to have contributed to a relative underinvestment in wildfire prevention, preparedness, and response capacity over the years.“
A weather forecaster with the National Weather Service emailed fire managers an “unprecedented advance warning” on Aug. 4, 2023, of the danger that would develop on Aug. 8, including extreme winds as a hurricane passed far to the south, according to the report released by the state attorney general. The email stressed the unusual certainty of forecast models and “significant concern” on the part of forecasters.
Zeng Hui/Xinhua via Getty Images
But in the ensuing four days, the report found, there is no evidence that key agencies — the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, Maui Fire Department, Maui Police and others — developed plans for dealing with severe wildfire risk, such as by having extra staff on duty, stationing emergency vehicles or supplies in high-risk areas, or plotting possible evacuations.
“The strongly worded nature of the email, had it been communicated to fire managers in other states with better developed severity preparedness strategies, could have gained attention and prompted discussion and operational planning,” the report said. “It was a call for State of Hawaii fire managers to prepare for the impending extreme weather.”
The heroic efforts of firefighters and police — who frequently risked their lives, sometimes sprinting door-to-door to warn residents to leave or piling evacuees into their cars to drive them to safety — were undercut by a lack of planning as the deadliest U.S. wildfire in a century destroyed thousands of buildings and caused billions in damages.
Neither Maui County nor the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency immediately responded to emails seeking comment.
“This investigation serves as a wake-up call for the state and county governments to learn from the past and urgently prepare for the future,” Attorney General Anne Lopez said in a statement accompanying the report.
Maui fire commanders discussed the forecast, but “no evidence of pre-event preparedness plans by the MFD were produced,” the report said. The police and fire departments never established a unified incident command post, and as a result it was more difficult to know who was responding to what, or where evacuation routes were blocked by downed trees or power lines.
The report recommends establishing “standard operating procedures for Red Flag and severe fire weather warning conditions, to include: preparing and pre-positioning supplies, equipment, vehicles, and personnel in high-risk areas; ensuring clear and open lines of communication within and among agencies to optimize for rapid and coordinated deployment of resources; and communicating with the public to aid residents in translating the forecasted conditions and risks into evacuation readiness.”
The departments share a mobile command vehicle, but the county did not provide evidence that it was used that day, the report said. Some emergency vehicles didn’t have equipment for clearing roadblocks like fallen trees or locked gates on private roads.
/ Getty Images
With multiple fires burning on Maui before the devastating blaze erupted in the afternoon, police focused on routine duties like traffic control rather than preparing for an evacuation, the report said. Responders lacked an incident action plan, which meant trouble figuring out where to direct resources. The police and fire departments operated separately, hindering communication as the winds toppled utility poles, cutting power and cell service.
And despite the warnings from forecasters, the heads of the county emergency management agency and the Maui Fire Department were both off-island that day, attending conferences in Honolulu. The report said no one appeared to be in charge of strategic resource allocation.
Some of the challenges facing officials and residents were particular to Hawaii and Maui: narrow roads clogged with parked cars and small, inconsistently named dirt roads often blocked by gates.
Many older, wooden homes were designed to resist heat and humidity, not wildfire. They were often separated by less than 6 feet (1.8 meters), and residents frequently left windows open, making it easier for the fire to spread.
Some people died in their cars. Others leaped into the ocean to escape the flames.
The 518-page report, conducted for the Hawaii attorney general’s office by the Fire Safety Research Institute, is the second part of a three-part attempt by officials to understand the tragedy and how best to avoid such disasters in the future.
The review determined that the lack of planning fit a long pattern of apathy to wildfire risk in Hawaii, where tsunamis and hurricanes are considered more pressing dangers, and it was among many factors that set the stage for the catastrophe. The report suggested that fire managers might have focused on the first sentence of the National Weather Service’s email, which noted Hurricane Dora was expected to pass south of the state, rather than make landfall, and thus assumed Hawaii was safe.
Even though a 2018 wildfire in West Maui near Lahaina burned 2,000 acres (810 hectares), destroyed 21 structures and forced 600 people into shelters, the Maui Police Department’s “Natural and Man-Made Disaster Plan” didn’t include wildfires.
The Maui Fire Department has policies for responding to hurricanes — a hurricane watch requires a staffing roster and rotational schedule for relief personnel, for example. But the department had no such policies for high fire danger, the report said.
And even though Maui County passed legislation in 2022 giving the fire department the authority to require property owners to clear vegetation, such as the dry invasive grasses that helped fuel the Aug. 8 fire, under penalty of a $1,000 fine, the county “has not produced any evidence that the MFD has enforced these amendments in the Lahaina area,” the report said.
The report urged Maui police, firefighters, the state land department and Maui emergency managers to work on their procedures and study and implement policies in place in other states.
For example, the report highlights that the “average number of Red Flag Warning days annually in Hawaiʻi is similar to some areas in California where emergency managers and local officials have initiated significant changes to their preparedness efforts over the course of the last 30 years.”
Lawyers for Sam Bankman-Fried claim in an appeal filed Friday that the imprisoned FTX founder was the victim of a rush to judgment by a public that wrongly believed he was guilty of stealing billions of dollars from his customers and investors before he was even arrested.
The lawyers filed papers with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals asking a three-judge panel to reverse Bankman-Fried’s conviction and assign the case to a new judge for a retrial, saying the trial judge “imposed a draconian quarter-century sentence on this first-time, non-violent offender” after they contend he hurried the jury into reaching a one-day verdict to cap off a complex four-week trial.
“Sam Bankman-Fried was never presumed innocent. He was presumed guilty — before he was even charged. He was presumed guilty by the media. He was presumed guilty by the FTX debtor estate and its lawyers. He was presumed guilty by federal prosecutors eager for quick headlines. And he was presumed guilty by the judge who presided over his trial,” the lawyers wrote.
They said the passing of time has cast Bankman-Fried in a better light.
“From day one, the prevailing narrative — initially spun by the lawyers who took over FTX, quickly adopted by their contacts at the U.S. Attorney’s Office — was that Bankman-Fried had stolen billions of dollars of customer funds, driven FTX to insolvency, and caused billions in losses,” the attorney said.
“Now, nearly two years later, a very different picture is emerging — one confirming FTX was never insolvent, and in fact had assets worth billions to repay its customers. But the jury at Bankman-Fried’s trial never got to see that picture,” they added.
Bankman-Fried, 32, was convicted last November of fraud and conspiracy, a year after his companies collapsed into bankruptcy as investors rushed to withdraw funds. A jury concluded that some of their money had been improperly spent on real estate, investments, celebrity endorsements, political contributions and lavish lifestyles.
At its height, FTX was treated as a pioneer and darling in the emerging cryptocurrency industry, with a Super Bowl advertisement, testimony by Bankman-Fried before Congress and endorsements from celebrities such as quarterback Tom Brady and comedian Larry David.
Bankman-Fried was arrested in December 2022 following his extradition from the Bahamas, just weeks after his company filed for bankruptcy and days after some of his former top executives began cooperating with federal prosecutors. Some of them testified against him at trial.
He initially remained under strict bail conditions at his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California, but Judge Lewis A. Kaplan in Manhattan revoked his bail shortly before the trial after concluding that Bankman-Fried was trying to influence likely witnesses, including an ex-girlfriend who had served as chief executive at Alameda Research, a crypto hedge fund.
The fallen mogul is serving a 25-year sentence after he was sentenced in March in what a prosecutor once described as one of the biggest financial frauds in U.S. history.
A prosecutor’s spokesperson declined to comment Friday.
Former president Donald Trump promised this week to eliminate income taxes on overtime pay if he wins a second term in November.
During remarks on the economy in Tucson, Arizona, Trump unveiled the policy which he said would give “people more of an incentive to work.”
“If you’re an overtime worker, when you’re past 40 hours a week, think of that, your overtime hours will be tax-free,” Trump said.
Any changes to the U.S. tax code require approval from Congress. In 2025, lawmakers will have an opportunity to rewrite the country’s tax laws, when Trump’s 2017 tax laws are set to expire. Trump’s new tax policies — which also include a proposal to end taxes on tips and a proposal that seniors should not pay taxes on social security benefits — are aimed primarily at hourly wage workers, a group that both presidential candidates are courting.
“The people who work overtime are among the hardest working citizens in our country and for too long, no one in Washington has been looking out for them,” Trump said. “They’re police officers, nurses, factory workers, construction workers, truck drivers and machine operators.”
The candidate’s latest tax-riddance proposal would cost $227 billion over 10 years, according to a conservative estimate calculated on Friday by the Tax Foundation, an independent tax policy research organization.
If enacted, the proposal could also spur a shift in those classified as salaried and exempt from overtime to those categorized as hourly workers, Garrett Watson, senior policy analyst at the Tax Foundation, told CBS News. “There are no guardrails on this, so the cost could go up from there,” Watson said.
Added together, Trump’s recent series of tax-exemption proposals “all add up to a multitrillion-dollar hole in deficit financing,” said Watson. “The big question is, to what extent does this make sense as a policy perspective,” he added.
“As an economist, I’m struggling to understand what the rationale is,” offered Janet Holtzblatt, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.
Trump’s proposal raises ethical and administrative questions including, “Can the IRS handle this?” said Holzblatt, who previously worked as an analyst in the Congressional Budget Office, the U.S. Treasury and for the Senate Budget Committee.
“It has the possibility of unintended effects — by helping one group of people, you may be harming another group of people,” said Holzblatt, noting the potential impact of how the labor market, in terms of wages and salaries, gets restructured — it gives the employer an incentive to change the base rate, or regular pay.”
Both Hozblatt and Watson said additional details of what Trump’s proposal would entail are needed to have a better grasp of its potential impact.
Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign calls Trump’s tax pitch is an attempt to “trick” Americans. It noted that the Trump administration in 2019 opted to cover far fewer workers in its overtime pay rule than had been proposed by the prior administration under former President Obama.
“Trump tried to rip away overtime pay for nearly 10 million workers and devastated families,” Joseph Costello, a spokesperson for the Harris campaign, said. “A second term will be even worse: Trump’s Project 2025 Agenda would allow employers to stop paying many workers overtime.”
The Harris campaign’s take was echoed by economist Heidi Shierholz, who leads the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning nonprofit think tank.
“Trump’s new playbook is to claim he won’t tax the earnings of the very groups of workers whose earnings he already has a clear record of undermining,” noted Shierholz, who was formerly chief economist at the Department of Labor.
Further, Trump’s proposal could wind up mostly benefiting the highest-paid Americans, according to Shierholz.
“To allow their salaried, overtime-exempt workers to get the tax cut, employers could easily switch them to hourly,” she noted. “It is not unreasonable to imagine that this policy would lead to a world where corporate CEOs earn $4,000 an hour plus $6 million in overtime.”