House Republicans will move Monday to undo one of President Obama’s efforts to change labor regulations to benefit unions.
Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., chairwoman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, plans to introduce resolution to undo an executive order from Obama that effectively created a blacklist of federal contractors who had been charged with labor violations.
The executive order had already been halted by a federal court in November, after a judge ruled that the Labor Department had exceeded its authority. But a committee source who requested anonymity said that was merely a preliminary injunction and Congress still officially needed to act to halt it. The committee will issue the resolution under the Congressional Review Act, which allows a majority in Congress to overturn an executive order.
The contracting rule, announced by the Labor Department in May, was issued in response to a 2014 executive order from President Obama to “promote economy and efficiency in procurement by contracting with responsible sources who comply with labor laws.”
The rule would have required any company bidding on a contract larger than $500,000 to report any violations within the last three years of 14 federal labor and safety laws, as well as violations of any equivalent state laws. If the company won the contract, it would have to make follow-up reports at six-month intervals until the contract is completed.
The rule extends disclosure to any “administrative merits determinations,” that is, any complaints or charges issued against the company by a government agency “whether final or subject to appeal or further review.”
A Texas District Court Judge Marcia Crone ruled in November that the White House had “departed from Congress’s explicit instructions” regarding federal contracting. Burr said the administration’s rule would treat “mere allegations of misconduct as violations of federal law, threatening to deprive contractors of their due process rights.” Business groups cheered the ruling.
