Last Monday, President Trump signed legislation ending Obama-era federal rules requiring contractors to disclose federal labor law violations as part of the federal contracting process. The rules would have appointed a contracting officer in each federal agency awarding contracts, who would have been empowered to review the circumstances behind the violations, certify that corrective actions had been taken, and possibly disqualify companies from federal contracts based on a conclusion that they were not in compliance with applicable wage payment, safety, EEO and other laws.

Many federal contractors viewed the rules as an attempt to blacklist companies through a granting of broad discretion to the contracting officers without appropriate due process safeguards. Unions and other interested parties could have used the regulations to pressure federal agencies to disqualify companies from federal contracts, including violations still under appeal by the employers. A federal court agreed, enjoining the rules in October before they ever took effect. Under the Congressional Review Act, Congress sent President Trump legislation that effectively bars the Department of Labor from attempting to resurrect the regulations.