Archive for July 2025

This Week in Congress! The House adjourned on July 23, 2025, for the August Recess and will return on September 2nd! Before the Senate can head out for the summer recess, senators have to confirm several nominees, along with passing a minibus funding package, which includes Legislative Branch, the Military Construction-VA and Agriculture-FDA funding bills.…

Rep. Stauber (R-MN) Reintroduces the Small Business Payment Performance Act On July 23, 2025, Rep. Stauber (MN-08) reintroduced the Small Business Payment for Performance Act, which will require fair treatment of small construction contractors by federal agencies during the procurement process. Of this legislation, Congressman Stauber stated, “Small businesses on Main Street America are the…

Tariffs, Trade Negotiations, and No More Extensions!   President Trump reached new trade deals with the European Union and Japan. As of August 1st, the tariff rates will be imposed on the following countries: Japan Deal – 15 % EU Deal – 15% UK Deal – 10% Philippines Deal – 19% Indonesia Deal – 19% Vietnam Deal – 20% – 40%…

The Revolutionary FAR Overhaul has arrived to FAR Part 36 Impacting Federal Construction Projects New subparts 36.1, Pre-Solicitation, 36.2, Evaluation and Award and 36.3, Post award, respectively, create logical organization for all activities in alignment with the acquisition lifecycle creating clear points of reference for the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). The scope of the part…

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This Week in Congress! This week, the Senate began floor action on FY2026 spending bills, aiming for bipartisan progress before the August recess. The House continued advancing funding measures as members of Congress face a September 30 deadline to avoid a shutdown, along with voting on a disapproval resolution over rules by the Bureau of…

24 Senate Republicans Urge President Trump to Stop Project Labor Agreements (PLA)s Senate Republicans have expressed concern over President Trump’s decision to maintain a Biden-era mandate requiring project labor agreements (PLAs) for large federal construction projects. Nearly two dozen GOP senators have urged the president to withdraw a 2024 rule mandating that bidders on federally…

This Week in Congress! This week marks a defining moment: Senate Republicans faced a critical vote on President Trump’s request to rescind $9.4 billion in funding, while Congress launched “Crypto Week” amid record-breaking Bitcoin prices. All this unfolded against the backdrop of catastrophic Texas floods, prompting fresh scrutiny of federal agencies during fiscal tightening. $9.4B Rescue…

FY26 National Defense Authorization Bill – Procurement Issues As the House advances, it’s FY26 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), we will continue to track the following provisions, which are important to the construction industry. As more details become available, we will update you accordingly.  Those provisions are: Section 312 – PFAS DoD reporting Section 802…

Senate Hearing on Portable Benefits On Thursday, July 17th, 2025, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing on portable benefits. This hearing follows the recent introduction of a legislative package by Chair Cassidy (R-LA) and Sens. Scott (R-SC) and Paul (R-KY) to modernize federal labor law by strengthening independent contractors’ access to…