President Trump Repeals Contractor “Blacklisting” Rule
Former President Obama’s so-called “Blacklisting” rule was short-lived.
On Monday, President Trump signed a joint resolution eliminating the rule, which had required bidders on federal projects with a value in excess of $500K to report state and federal labor and safety violations within the past three years. The Blacklisting rule, also known as the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order 13673, only went into effect in October 2016.
Whitehouse Press Secretary Sean Spicer called the rule a “job-kill[er]” and said that manufacturers had identified the rule as “one of the most significant threats to growing American businesses and hiring more American workers.”
Construction industry trade associations applauded elimination of the rule. In a press release, Ben Brubeck, Vice President of Regulatory, Labor and State Affairs for the Associated Builders and Contractors, said that “[t]he rule violated the due process rights of contractors by forcing them to report mere allegations of misconduct – which are often frivolous and filed with nefarious intentions by special interests groups – the same as fully adjudicated violations.”
Brubeck’s comments regarding the constitutionality of the rule is in reference to a federal district court’s earlier injunction of the rule.
California Construction Law Blog | Nomos LLP 
6 Responses to “President Trump Repeals Contractor “Blacklisting” Rule”
This is really bad!!! Generating jobs becoming more important than ensuring construction companies observing best processes? what is this?
I think the only additional jobs generated by eliminating this rule are in the health care field.
As I am wont to say, almost every damn day,
“This f$&king guy!”
Your name seems awfully familiar. 😉
I don’t understand the alleged “job-killing” nature of the Blacklisting rule. Didn’t the rule simply transfer the opportunity to perform the work to a (potentially) slightly different basket of vendors? It seems like the work itself would not get less labor intensive.
Good point Dave. As Melissa McCartney’s SNL Sean Spicer character would likely say, “those are his words, not mine!” Perhaps more accurately it’s a job competitiveness issue not a job elimination issue. Although, to run with the SNL skit train of thought, it was a “job-killing” rule from the perspective of the contractor who didn’t get the job (although, on the other hand, that argument could be made as to any QB selection process). Sigh . . .