Court rules in favor of contractor on project labor agreement mandate

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruled in favor of a federal contractor challenging former President Joe Biden’s project labor agreement (PLA) mandate on federal construction projects valued at $35 million or more as applied to a specific solicitation.

Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) welcomed the decision, adding that it continues a pattern of successful legal challenges to the Biden administration's “illegal PLA policy.”

Judge Ryan T. Holte ruled for the plaintiff, who ABC says is a member of the Washington-based association, in an expedited bid protest involving a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers construction solicitation, ordering that the government remove the PLA mandate from the project before bidding continues.

“ABC and its federal contractor members applaud the court for once again recognizing the real-world harm inflicted on contractors and taxpayers by unlawful and costly PLA mandates,” says Kristen Swearingen, ABC vice president of government affairs. “As in the court’s earlier ruling, the government failed to produce evidence showing these mandates deliver any benefits to taxpayers, while the record confirms they restrict competition and steer federal contracts toward special interests at the expense of the vast majority of the construction workforce.”

ABC says the decision does not the PLA rule nationwide but removes the PLA mandate from the challenged project solicitation. The judge chose not to issue a broad injunction, and so the Biden executive order and implementing rule remain in effect.

In the coming days, ABC says it expects the ruling to be applied to 15 other bid protests that were consolidated and stayed while the lead case was argued, removing the anticompetitive PLA mandate from these solicitations as well.

This ruling follows a Jan. 19, 2025, decision from the same court that sided with members of ABC and Associated General Contractors challenging 12 solicitations with mandated PLAs.

ABC says it continues to support members through bid protests and legal action to ensure federal agencies comply with the law and protect taxpayers, competition and worker choice while the parties await a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit on whether the PLA mandate should be more broadly enjoined to prevent irreparable harm to ABC members and American taxpayers.