Independent Electrical Contractors (IEC) continues to advocate for fair and open competition for taxpayer-funded construction contracting opportunities as litigation over government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) continues to evolve in federal courts.
Recent court decisions have produced mixed outcomes for merit shop contractors challenging Executive Order 14063, the Biden-era policy requiring PLAs on most federal construction projects valued at $35 million or more.
At the expense of IEC member contractors, electricians, and apprentices, the inflationary and anti-competitive Biden policy has continued under the Trump administration via a June 12, 2025, OMB memo affirming that “agencies should use PLAs when practicable and cost-effective.”
On April 21, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit denied Associated Builders and Contractors’ (ABC) request for a preliminary injunction that would have paused enforcement of the PLA mandate nationwide while litigation proceeds. The court concluded that the plaintiffs had not yet demonstrated a sufficient likelihood of success on the merits to justify emergency relief at this stage of the case.
Despite the ruling, ABC and allied merit shop organizations emphasized that the broader legal challenge remains ongoing and that contractors continue to raise significant concerns regarding competition, taxpayer costs, worker choice, and procurement fairness.
At the same time, merit shop contractors have seen continued success striking down PLA mandates in project-specific bid protest litigation before the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.
In one notable decision issued December 18, 2025, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruled in favor of federal contractors challenging PLA requirements attached to multiple federal agency solicitations for construction services. Judge Ryan T. Holte ordered the federal government to remove the PLA mandates from the solicitations before bidding could proceed.
The decision followed a January 21, 2025, decision by Judge Holte where the court sided with merit shop contractors challenging federal agency PLA requirements on 12 federal projects. Judge Holte found that federal agency PLA mandates “excluded responsible offerors capable of performing the contract” and unlawfully violated the federal Competition in Contracting Act.
Importantly, while the U.S. Court of Federal Claims decisions have removed PLA mandates from individual solicitations, they have not invalidated the Biden administration’s executive order or related implementing regulations nationwide. As a result, contractors continue to face a patchwork environment where project-specific protests may succeed even while the broader federal pro-PLA policy remains in place.
As the merit shop contracting community pursues a legal solution, IEC’s prime contractors are encouraged to file bid protests in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, and not the Government Accountability Office, against federal agency PLA mandates. Contact IEC’s government affairs team to learn more about this process.
In addition, IEC continues to support policies that preserve fair and open competition and allow all qualified contractors and skilled workers to compete for federally funded construction work regardless of labor affiliation.
The Fair and Open Competition Act (FOCA) (H.R.2126/S.1064), introduced in March 2025 by Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) and Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), has 107 cosponsors in the House and 23 cosponsors in the Senate.
In July 2025, 116 members of Congress signed letters urging President Trump to rescind Biden’s PLA mandate and controversial OMB memo.
According to an IEC-signed coalition letter sent to President Trump, FOCA would save the federal government $10 billion per year if signed into law by prohibiting government-mandated PLAs.
IEC has consistently expressed concerns to policymakers that government-mandated PLAs can:
- Reduce bidder participation and competition;
- Increase construction costs for taxpayers by 12% to 21%;
- Limit opportunities for merit shop contractors and employees and exacerbate the construction industry’s skilled labor shortage of 349,000 in 2026;
- Disrupt existing workforce and apprenticeship arrangements, undermining America’s workforce development pipeline;
- Favor certain unionized contractors and workers over the vast majority of the construction workforce, which remains nonunion, as almost 9 out of 10 U.S. construction workers are employed by merit shop contractors; and
- Harm nonunion employees by requiring union membership, nonrefundable union dues payments, and/or unfavorable employee benefits rules that confiscate an estimated 34% of an employee’s paycheck.
In addition, recent polling in key battleground states suggests that PLAs will discourage merit shop workers from voting for Republican candidates in the forthcoming midterm elections.
The issue may soon receive additional attention as the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) advances new guidance related to PLA policies for federally assisted highway projects.
According to public filings at the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), FHWA is currently developing forthcoming PLA guidance under Regulatory Identification Number (RIN) 2125-ZA33.
Recent OIRA meeting records indicate administration officials are reviewing stakeholder input regarding the proposed guidance and its potential impact on transportation infrastructure projects.
IEC and other merit shop advocates are closely monitoring the FHWA policy changes amid concerns that additional federal guidance could encourage or expand the use of PLAs on federally assisted transportation projects, which permitted state and local governments to mandate PLAs on more than 1,000 federally assisted projects valued at $28.5 billion from May 2010 to January 2025.
Ben Brubeck, IEC’s federal lobbyist, met with OIRA officials on May 1 to express concerns about potential FHWA guidance making it easier for recipients of FHWA infrastructure funding grants to mandate PLAs without appropriate federal transparency and legal review.
“OIRA heard IEC’s perspective about how potential changes could affect competition, cost-effectiveness, and statutory compliance in federal-aid highway projects,” Brubeck said. “Despite these concerns, I anticipate the forthcoming FHWA guidance to align closer to the Trump administration’s controversial OMB memo that promotes the use of discriminatory PLA mandates on federal contracts of $35 million or more.”
“My goal is for IEC’s comments to give federal officials pause at advancing anti-competitive, costly, and illegal PLA mandates and encouragements that continue to waste taxpayer dollars and hurt merit shop apprentices, electricians, and contractors powering America,” Brubeck said. “Unfortunately, this emerging FHWA policy appears to be a political decision driven by the White House, which is why it is important for IEC and the merit shop contracting community to remain strong advocates for the industry and push back with all of the tools in our advocacy toolbox.”
As litigation and regulatory activity continue, IEC remains committed to ensuring that federal procurement policies promote competition, maximize opportunities for qualified contractors and apprentices, and protect taxpayer value while allowing contractors and workers the freedom to choose whether voluntary PLAs make sense for a particular project.