By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge in Texas has blocked a new rule from the Biden administration that would have expanded access to overtime pay for millions of U.S. wage workers.

In a ruling Friday, U.S. District Judge Sean Jordan sided with the state of Texas and a group of business organizations that argued the Labor Department overstepped its authority when it finalized a rule earlier this year to significantly expand federal overtime eligibility for salaried workers.

Under federal law, almost all hourly workers in the US are entitled to overtime pay after 40 hours per week. But many salaried workers are exempt from this requirement – ​​unless they earn below a certain level.

The now-suppressed Labor Department rule would have marked the largest increase in that cap in decades. Employers were required to pay overtime to salaried workers earning less than $43,888 a year in certain executive, administrative and professional roles starting July 1 — and that was to rise to $58,656 next year.

The Labor Department estimated that an additional 4 million lower-wage workers would become eligible for overtime protection in the first year under the new rule. In addition, 292,900 higher-compensated workers were also expected to gain additional entitlements through separate threshold increases.

Now, the previous threshold of $35,568 — which was set in 2019 under the Trump administration — is about to go back into effect.

A Labor Department spokesman did not immediately comment when contacted by The Associated Press on Friday.