Since the Biden-Harris administration took office, the U.S. economy has added nearly 16 million jobs—including nearly 800,000 manufacturing jobs. Under President Biden and Vice President Harris, the U.S. economy experienced the longest streak of sub-4% unemployment in more than 50 years.

The Biden-Harris administration signed an executive order requiring federal contractors to pay a minimum wage of $15 per hour, ensuring that these workers—including cleaning, maintenance and cafeteria workers—aren’t living in poverty.

In 2024, the Biden-Harris administration updated the overtime rule, requiring employers to pay overtime to workers who earn less than $1,128 per week, or about $58,600 per year, when they work more than 40 hours in a week.

The Biden-Harris administration has invested $730 million to expand, modernize and diversify the use of Registered Apprenticeships to create and strengthen career pathways for all workers to obtain good jobs with competitive wages.

While a senator, Kamala Harris introduced a bill amending the Fair Labor Standards Act to extend overtime rights to all agricultural farmworkers, requiring employers to pay workers time and a half for every hour they work beyond 40 in a week and grant agricultural workers new minimum wage rights.

In her time as attorney general of California, Kamala Harris won back more than $1 million for working people from eight Northern and Southern California carwashes that underpaid workers, denied rest and meal breaks, and created false records of time worked.

As California attorney general, Kamala Harris also cracked down on wage theft, signing a cooperative agreement with the Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) Wage and Hour Division to facilitate increased information sharing and enforcement of labor violations. The agreement helped both agencies combat employee misclassification.

The U.S. economy lost 2.9 million jobs during the Trump administration and the unemployment rate increased from 4.8% to 6.4%.

In 2019, President Trump changed the overtime rule requiring employers to only pay overtime to workers making less than $35,568—far less than the $47,000 threshold the Obama administration had proposed in 2014 before a far-right judge in Texas invalidated it.

The Biden-Harris administration led the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure law in November 2021 and the CHIPS and Science Act in August 2022, two historic investments to create new jobs and bring manufacturing back to the United States. Under their leadership, nearly 800,000 manufacturing jobs have been created.

Manufacturing jobs did not grow while President Trump was in office. There were 12.37 million manufacturing workers in 2017, and 12.31 million when Trump left office.

In 2016, Trump promised workers in Warren, Michigan, that if he was elected president, “you won’t lose one plant.” GM closed its Warren plant in 2019.

In 2017, Trump promised workers in Ohio that the jobs lost by the planned closure of the GM plant in Lordstown were “all coming back.” The plant closed in 2019.

Donald Trump promised to protect jobs in the steel industry, but failed to follow through on cracking down on China’s dumping of steel into the United States. In 2019 alone, more than 16,000 manufacturing workers in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin lost their jobs.

As vice president in 2021, Kamala Harris cast the tiebreaking vote to save more than 1 million union members’ pensions by passing the Butch Lewis Act as part of the American Rescue Plan pandemic relief bill. This action also prevented massive cuts to the pensions of 2 million workers and retirees to ensure they wouldn’t face poverty in retirement through no fault of their own.

In 2024, the Biden-Harris administration issued a strong new “retirement security rule” to require retirement advisers to do what’s in the best interest of their customers—something that should have been the law already, but wasn’t.

As California attorney general, Harris stood up to anti-union “pension reform advocates” and took steps to help protect pensions in California.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump said he was “not going to cut Social Security like every other Republican.” But each of President Trump’s annual White House budget proposals included cuts to Social Security and Medicare. In 2020, Trump issued a plan to suspend payroll taxes that he promised to make permanent if reelected; the chief Social Security actuary said this plan would cause Social Security to run out of money by 2023.

In March 2024, Trump once again said he was open to cuts to Social Security and Medicare.

In the first weeks of his presidency, Trump issued a memo shelving the Obama administration’s fiduciary rule for retirement advisers. In 2018, Eugene Scalia—a corporate megalawyer who became Trump’s secretary of labor in 2019—found a far-right federal appeals court to overturn the Obama-era rule.

The Biden-Harris administration has appointed the most pro-union National Labor Relations Board—the agency responsible for protecting workers’ organizing and bargaining rights—in history. For the first time in decades, organizing was made easier for workers, not harder. The board has gone after illegal corporate union-busting and made it easier for workers to organize new unions. That led to the largest one-year increase in union victories on record.

The Biden-Harris administration issued a final rule in December 2023 requiring project labor agreements—collective bargaining agreements between building trades unions and contractors—on all federally funded construction projects valued at or above $35 million.

For the first time in nearly 40 years, the Biden-Harris Department of Labor updated its Davis-Bacon regulations to modernize and strengthen prevailing wage rates for workers on federally funded construction projects, which will raise wages for 1 million construction workers over time.

As vice president, Kamala Harris has chaired the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment, whose recommendations have included removing barriers to workers joining unions, establishing good jobs principles for federal investments, and connecting newly organized workers and their employers to resources that will help them reach first contracts.

In her first week as the Democratic nominee for president in 2024, Vice President Harris recommitted to the Biden-Harris administration’s promise to sign the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act into law if/when Congress passes it. The PRO Act is a landmark labor bill that would end union-busting “right to work” laws and make it easier for workers to form unions and win strong contracts.

While a senator, Kamala Harris co-sponsored the Workplace Democracy Act, which would end right to work laws, prevent employee misclassification and mandate that when a majority of workers in a bargaining unit signs valid authorization cards to join a union, companies cannot deny or delay a first contract.

In 2019, Kamala Harris walked the picket line with the UAW at the GM facility near Reno, Nevada.

In May 2018, Donald Trump issued an executive order that restricted union representatives’ ability to advocate for their public sector union members on the job. (The Biden-Harris administration rescinded this rule during its first week in office.)

Trump and his Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos illegally imposed a “collective bargaining agreement” at the Department of Education that union members had firmly rejected at the bargaining table. The sham agreement targeted workers’ freedom to negotiate on workplace issues, including employee training and child care, overtime, health and safety provisions, telework and flexible work schedules.

The Trump administration manipulated a law intended to help the Department of Veterans Affairs improve care for America’s veterans to instead fire thousands of union workers like housekeepers, food service workers and nursing assistants. Stripping away protections for rank-and-file workers at the VA resulted in a 60% rise in firings in the second half of 2017 alone.

In his last month in office, Trump issued a rule making it harder for gig workers such as food delivery workers and ride-sharing workers to be counted as employees, preventing them from qualifying for the federal minimum wage and overtime—and the right to join a union.

Trump’s first nominee for secretary of labor was Andrew Puzder, the CEO of Hardee’s/Carl’s Jr., which had faced numerous employee class-action lawsuits and violations of worker protection laws. Puzder was forced to withdraw his nomination over lack of support. Trump’s second secretary of labor nominee was Alex Acosta, the former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, who resigned after two years in the office due to public criticism over his mishandling of the Jeffrey Epstein case. His third secretary of labor nominee was Eugene Scalia, son of former far-right Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. The younger Scalia had spent his career as a corporate lawyer working to overturn pro-worker rules.

Trump’s anti-labor record was not unique to his time in office. He used nonunion workers on his construction projects and crossed the Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) picket line during a 2004 filming of “The Apprentice.” And during the height of the UAW Big Three strike in September 2023, Trump claimed that he was going to Michigan to speak to union autoworkers—but instead spoke at a nonunion plant.

Donald Trump stated in a Fox News interview that he thinks union workers make too much money, despite the massive and growing pay gap between worker and CEO pay. He said of union workers: “They get their little 5 percent, they get another 2 percent….All of a sudden they’re making more money than the people that own the company.”

In August 2024, Trump held a Twitter/X Spaces chat with billionaire Tesla/SpaceX founder Elon Musk in which he praised Musk for firing workers who were striking for better pay and benefits. He told Musk, “You’re the greatest!”

Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tiebreaking vote for the Inflation Reduction Act, which took on big pharmaceutical companies that have gouged working families for decades. The bill finally required Medicare to negotiate prices for some prescription drugs, required drug companies to pay rebates if they raise prices faster than the rate of inflation and lowered the cost of many expensive prescription drugs, including capping insulin at $35 per month. People enrolled in Medicare are expected to save $1.5 billion in 2026 alone, and American taxpayers also will save an estimated $6 billion.

In March 2024, the Biden-Harris administration introduced a budget that would expand the Inflation Reduction Act’s annual $2,000 out-of-pocket prescription drug cap beyond Medicare—extending it to all Americans. Vice President Harris has announced the same policy as part of her campaign plan.

The Biden-Harris administration has continued to protect the Affordable Care Act, which has given millions of working families and young people access to affordable health care.

Donald Trump attempted to overturn the Affordable Care Act in court and in Congress, which would have caused 24 million Americans to lose their health care, including coverage for prescription drugs.

Trump vowed to negotiate prescription drug prices during his 2016 campaign, but dropped that promise as president after meeting with Big Pharma lobbyists.

In order to give the appearance of action, Trump announced four executive orders on prescription drug prices in 2020 that could not be implemented because they conflicted with the existing Affordable Care Act law.

The Biden-Harris administration protected the Affordable Care Act, resulting in a combined 50% increase in enrollment and a historic 21.3 million new subscribers in the marketplace during the open enrollment period for 2024.

Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tiebreaking vote for the American Rescue Plan, which lowered or eliminated health insurance premiums for millions of lower- and middle-income families enrolled in health insurance marketplaces. At the height of the COVID-19 crisis, the bill also extended and fully paid for COBRA coverage for Americans who had lost their jobs.

Vice President Harris cast the tie-breaking vote on the Inflation Reduction Act, which created a $2,000-per-year cap on out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for Americans on Medicare, required Medicare to negotiate prices for some prescription drugs, required drug companies to pay rebates if they raised prices faster than the rate of inflation, and lowered the cost of many expensive prescription drugs, including capping insulin at $35 per month. People enrolled in Medicare are expected to save $1.5 billion in 2026 alone, and American taxpayers will also save an estimated $6 billion.

The Biden-Harris administration has made billions of dollars available to keep rural hospitals open and develop a pipeline of rural health care workers to provide critical health care services in their communities.

The Biden-Harris administration announced a new rule in March 2024 to crack down on junk insurance that tricks people into signing up for health care that provides little or no coverage when people need it most.

In September 2023, the Biden-Harris administration proposed a rule setting minimum staffing standards for nursing homes that receive funding from Medicare or Medicaid. This is critical to ensuring nursing homes provide safe and high-quality care—and ensuring better pay and working conditions for 4.2 million care staff.

The Biden-Harris administration proposed a new rule in 2024 banning medical debt from appearing on credit reports, ensuring one bad diagnosis or accident doesn’t ruin working families’ credit.

Donald Trump attempted to overturn the Affordable Care Act in court and in Congress, “Trumpcare” would have caused 24 million Americans to lose their health care,

Donald Trump undermined the Affordable Care Act by slashing the outreach budget, cutting the length of the exchange open enrollment period in half, encouraging states to implement work requirements for Medicaid and creating a public charge rule that would penalize a worker’s immigration status if they used programs like Medicaid. As a result, 7 million Americans lost their health insurance during the Trump administration.

Donald Trump’s 2020 budget proposed about $1 trillion in funding cuts to Medicare and Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.

Donald Trump appointed three far-right justices to the U.S. Supreme Court, tipping the scales to overturn Roe v. Wade and rob workers of the freedom to make their own health care decisions.

By the end of 2023, the number of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) workplace safety inspectors in the Biden-Harris administration had increased 11% from the Trump administration.

The agency conducted 31,820 total inspections in FY 2022, a 30.8% increase from FY 2021.

The Biden-Harris White House’s OSHA announced an extreme heat rule in July 2024 to address some of the most basic needs for workers’ health and safety: water, shade, rest breaks, training and acclimatization for working in hot environments.

The Biden-Harris Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) banned a form of asbestos that is linked to more than 40,000 deaths in the United States each year. It also banned most uses of methylene chloride, a dangerous chemical found in bathtub refinishing and paint stripping.

The Biden-Harris Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) issued a rule to protect coal and metal and nonmetal miners from deadly silica exposure.

The Biden-Harris administration finalized a walkaround representation rule clarifying workers’ right to designate a union representative, a workplace safety expert or another qualified advocate to be present during OSHA inspections.

While a senator, Kamala Harris Introduced the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, which sought to guarantee domestic workers protections against harassment and discrimination, meal breaks, a guaranteed minimum wage and overtime pay.

When she was California attorney general, Harris stood with health care workers in approving the sale of six nonprofit hospitals. Harris went beyond Prime Healthcare’s promise to keep operating the hospitals for five years and required them to keep operating five of the hospitals for 10 years.

The number of federal workplace safety inspectors fell to its lowest level in OSHA’s history during the Trump administration—not only from budget cuts, but from a failure to fill vacancies in a timely manner.

The Trump administration repealed recordkeeping rules requiring big employers to keep and report accurate injury records.

It also refused to publicly disclose fatality and injury data reported to OSHA .

Donald Trump repealed President Obama’s 2014 Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces order, which required federal contractors to disclose labor law violations before being awarded a federal contract and ensure that the worst repeat offenders didn’t continue to receive work from the federal government. (Another provision in that repealed rule ensured that workers at large federal contractors who had been sexually assaulted or had their civil rights violated could get their day in court by banning mandatory arbitration agreements.)

Trump undermined workers’ voices on the job, withdrawing the 2013 Obama-era policy allowing nonunion workers to participate in OSHA safety inspections.

Donald Trump delayed and proposed rolling back the EPA’s chemical risk management rule—which governs how companies store dangerous chemicals—leaving workers, the public and first responders in danger . He also proposed eliminating the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, which investigates major chemical incidents like explosions or leaks to prevent future chemical disasters in our workplaces and communities.

Donald Trump’s budget proposed eliminating funding for OSHA’s Susan Harwood Training Grant Program, which for more than 40 years has funded groups to train more than 1 million U.S. workers on health and safety hazards and their rights at work, and has created hundreds of publicly available training materials in more than a dozen languages.

Donald Trump proposed revoking key child labor protections for teenagers working in nursing homes and other health care jobs.

Donald Trump weakened MSHA’s mine safety enforcement, putting miners at even greater risk in what is already an extremely difficult and hazardous job.

Trump signed an executive order during his first month in office requiring federal agencies to eliminate two regulations for each new one introduced. He halted rules protecting workers on styrene , combustible dust, construction noise, infectious diseases, silica and mine safety.

In July 2024, inflation fell below 3% for the first time since 2021, the year the Biden-Harris administration took office.

The Biden-Harris administration is tackling “greedflation” by taking on Big Pharma to lower prescription drug prices, cutting red tape to build more homes while taking on corporate landlords that unfairly increase rent, and taking on corporate price gouging, junk fees and everyday headaches that waste Americans’ money, so as to lower everyday costs from groceries to air travel to subscriptions.

Vice President Kamala Harris would expand the agenda of the Biden-Harris administration if elected—calling for the construction of 3 million homes to bring down rents and mortgages; providing historic down-payment assistance for first-time homebuyers; capping insulin and out-of-pocket prescription costs for everyone, not just Americans on Medicare; working with states to cancel medical debt; and advancing the first federal ban on price gouging on food and groceries. She also would make the American Rescue Plan’s expanded child tax credit permanent.

The 2017 tax cuts passed during the Trump administration that primarily benefited corporations and the wealthy remain in place, costing an estimated $1.9 trillion over 10 years .

These tax cuts permanently reduced the top corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%. Economists estimate that 100% of the proceeds of the cuts went to owners, senior executives and top earners, and the bottom 90% of workers did not see any wage gains from the tax cut.

Many corporations benefiting from these tax cuts have kept their consumer prices high even after the supply chain issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have eased. As a result, corporate profit margins reached a 70-year high in 2021.

Trump told his allies that he is interested in cutting corporate taxes once again, a fiscal stimulus for large corporations that risks fueling inflation. One study by the Groundwork Collective found that corporate profits drove more than 50% of inflation in the second and third quarters of 2023.

In October 2023, the Biden-Harris administration released an executive order on artificial intelligence (AI) that establishes new standards for AI safety, privacy, civil and worker rights. The order directs federal agencies to develop principles and model practices to mitigate harms of AI on workers, including addressing job displacement, labor standards, workplace equity, and worker health and safety. It also addresses important civil rights, consumer protections and issues related to democracy. The executive order is a road map for ensuring that AI and data-driven technologies work for working people.

Corporate lobbyists are seeking to reverse Joe Biden’s executive order on artificial intelligence. Donald Trump has promised to reverse Biden’s AI order protecting workers on day one.

The Biden-Harris administration has called for the passage of the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

In July 2024, the Biden-Harris administration called for a constitutional amendment reaffirming that no American president is above the law. The announcement also called for term limits for Supreme Court justices, and forcing the Supreme Court to follow a binding, enforceable conduct and ethics code—just like every other federal judge has to do.

Donald Trump was impeached for a second time in January 2021 for high crimes and misdemeanors for attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election and incite the violent riot by his supporters at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Trump also has been indicted in Georgia for pressuring Georgia officials to "find 11,780 votes” to overturn the state’s election results, and is facing felony charges brought by the Department of Justice. (The Trump-appointed majority on the Supreme Court ruled in 2024 that Trump is immune from criminal liability for his official acts.)

In addition to the more than 30 calls and meetings Trump held with state and federal officials to overturn the election, Trump tried to enlist officials at the Department of Justice to help him stay in power.

Donald Trump peddled conspiracy theories that voting by mail would lead to “massive fraud and abuse.”

On his Truth Social platform in 2022, Trump called for overturning the U.S. Constitution.

Trump defended neo-Nazi protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, and has repeatedly praised authoritarian leaders around the world, including Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, China's Xi Jinping and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.