The U.S. Department of Defense has announced a significant policy shift by removing project labor agreement (PLA) requirements from its military construction solicitations. This decision comes after a bid protest approach was crafted with the help of the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). The government also plans to remove PLA mandates on twelve other projects that were part of this protest.
Jeffrey Shoaf, CEO of AGC, responded to the announcement, emphasizing the association's role in challenging the mandates. "Our association’s novel bid protest approach was designed to block the unlawful mandating of project labor agreements on all federal construction projects valued at $35 million or more," Shoaf stated. He referenced a recent ruling by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, which declared former President Biden's executive order mandating PLAs as unlawful.
Shoaf expressed optimism about the Defense Department's decision as an indication that their strategy is effective. "The announcement that the U.S. Department of Defense will drop project labor agreement mandates from its military construction solicitations is a clear sign that our approach is working," he noted. He expects other federal agencies involved in construction procurement to follow suit and eliminate similar mandates.
Furthermore, Shoaf mentioned ongoing discussions with the Trump administration aimed at officially revoking Biden's executive order and related Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) rules to clear any remaining uncertainties among federal procurement officials.