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Budget Reconciliation / Tax Code / and the 119th Congress Republicans have won 218 seats in the House, giving the party a majority in both chambers of Congress next year.  The Republican’s electoral sweep will allow it to use a special “budget reconciliation” process to pass tax, spending, and debt limit legislation in the Senate…

Recess Appointments? President-elect Trump is pushing Senate leaders to allow for recess appointments. Article II, Section 2, Clause 3, commonly known as the Recess Appointment Clause, provides that, the President shall have power to fill all vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate. These recess appointments are valid through, in this case,…

President-Elect Trump’s Cabinet Nominations and Appointments I will continue to update cabinet nominations and other appointments as they are announced. The nominations and appointments, to date, are as follows: Secretary of Commerce: Howard Lutnick, the chair and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald and is also currently serving as co-chair of the Trump transition. Secretary of Defense:…

Click Here to Register for this Webinar! Upcoming Webinar – Trust but Verify: Prequalifying Project Owners and GCs Join us on January 9th, 2025 at 1pm Eastern for the upcoming webinar, “Trust but Verify: Prequalifying Project Owners and GCs.”   Be sure to register for this valuable webinar on a critical risk management action—prequalifying owners and…

  The Developing America’s Workforce Act On Thursday, November 14, 2024, Reps. Good (R-VA) and Miller (R-IL) introduced H.R. 10122, The Developing America’s Workforce Act. Notably, the bill text would reinstate the Trump Industry Recognized Apprenticeship Rule (IRAP) rule with one important change—it eliminates the “construction exemption,” which was accepted in the first Trump Administration.…

Overtime Rule Declared Invalid On Friday, November 15, 2024, a federal judge in Texas ruled that the Department of Labor’s 2024 overtime rule is invalid.  The Department of Labor (DOL) released the rule earlier this year that attempted to implement a new overtime regulation and salary threshold increase.  The rule would have required employers to…

Potential Immigration Enforcement and I-9 Audits While much of the incoming administration’s policy agenda for the immigrant workforce is still unknown, I am informed that employers are gearing up for a dramatic increase in worksite enforcement, as outlined by President-elect Trump’s Transition Team.  This could include a return of surprise raids of companies suspected of…

This Week in Congress The House returned with votes planned this week on three measures under a rule, requiring a simple majority vote for passage: (1) the Critical Mineral Consistency Act, H.R. 8446, would amend the Energy Act of 2020 to include certain critical materials in the definition of critical minerals; (2) the HEATS Act, H.R.…

2024 Election Update! Republicans have won the White House and control of the Senate. The House majority has not yet been determined and called races have resulted in Republican wins in 214 districts, and Democratic wins in 203 districts, with 18 races yet to be decided.  Republicans are favored to win a narrow majority in…

Lame Duck Session Begins… Congress returns this week with an extensive list of items to consider between now and the end of the year. These items include: Government Funding: Congress must fund the federal government past December 20th.  In September, after the House passed the last continuing resolution (CR) to extend funding through that date, Speaker…