Alexander Statement on District Court Ruling Halting Obama Administration’s “Blacklisting” Regulations

ALAMO, Tenn., Oct. 25, 2016 – Senate labor committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) made the following statement on the United States District Court’s preliminary injunction Monday, which temporarily halted implementation of the administration’s “blacklisting” regulations on federal contractors and subcontractors:

“The District Court’s decision to halt the administration’s ‘blacklisting’ regulations – which were set to take effect today – is good news for our nation’s federal contractors and subcontractors. An administration could use these regulations to play political favorites, picking and choosing which businesses are ineligible to receive federal contracts – even blocking them for a labor violation that hasn’t been proven. The court should act to block these regulations for good, and Congress should work to send our defense authorization conference report to the president’s desk soon, including a provision to exempt defense contracts from these regulations.”

Earlier this year, Alexander joined Republican Senators Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), David Vitter (R-La.), and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) in requesting a provision included in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2017 that would exclude defense contracts from the administration’s executive order save for those that have been debarred or otherwise suspended. The House-passed version of the bill also includes language to exempt defense contracts from these regulations. Defense contractors account for the majority of all federal contractors.

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