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President Bush claimed during his 2004 campaign that he was a man of action who wants to "get the U.S. Congress working." However, on November 19, after a bi-partisan group in Congress acted on behalf of Americas workers by opposing his changes to federal overtime pay rules, Bush threatened to shut down the federal government.

The administrations March 2003 proposal to change overtime pay eligibility rules under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) resulted in a relentless campaign by the AFL-CIO and Working America to protect the overtime rights of up to six million workers who could lose them under changed rules. Over 1.6 million e-mails, faxes and letters were sent to Washington, D.C. to protest the action. Rallies were held in cities and towns across the nation. Many unorganized workers joined the union members in opposition to the FLSA changes.

This campaign moved Congressional leaders to act. Congress has voted six times to block the Bush administrations attack on overtime pay, but Bush veto threats and strong-arm, back-room maneuvers by Republican congressional leaders killed those measures.

The most recent vote to save overtime pay came October 10 when the Senate approved freestanding legislation sponsored by Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) to restore overtime pay rights. The House, however, failed to consider the Senate-passed bill. Previously, the House voted to add overtime pay protections to the fiscal year 2005 spending bill on September 9, and the same overtime pay protections were added to the Senate version on September 15.

On November 17, the Bush administration told Congress it would veto the entire $388 billion spending package if lawmakers insisted on protecting workers overtime pay rights with an amendment. A veto could have shut down the federal government. On November 18, congressional Republicans eliminated the amendment.

"The battle isnt over," declared Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) in a statement.