On December 23, 2011, President Obama signed the nearly $1 trillion omnibus spending act (H.R. 2055) into law, which provides $14.5 billion to the United States Department of Labor ("DOL") for fiscal year 2012. In addition to providing funding, the law places certain restrictions on actions by the DOL. Specifically, the act includes a rider in Section 113 which bars the use of funds to enforce Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") regulation 29 C.F.R. § 779.372(c)(4). Section 779.372(c)(4) originally provided that a service manager, service writer, service advisor, or service salesman at an automobile dealership, who is not primarily engaged in the work of a salesman, partsman, or mechanic is not exempt under section 13(b)(10)(A). Section 779.372(c)(4) was deleted from the regulations in April 2011. Because § 779.372(c)(4) is no longer part of the final regulations, the rider appears unenforceable.

Section 13(b)(10)(A) of the FLSA provides that "any salesman, partsman, or mechanic primarily engaged in selling or servicing automobiles, trucks, or farm implements, if he is employed by a non-manufacturing establishment primarily engaged in the business of selling such vehicles or implements to ultimate purchasers" shall be exempt from overtime requirements. On July 28, 2008, during the Bush administration, the DOL published a notice of proposed rulemaking ("NPRM") containing several revisions to the FLSA regulations, including revision of § 779.372(c)(4) to clarify that service advisors qualify for the overtime exemption.