Federal contractors vow to fight Obama executive order

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The Hill:

Business interests are vowing to fight President Obama’s executive order imposing new restrictions on companies who want to do business with the federal government.

 

Obama announced the action this week, ordering up new regulations that would require firms seeking federal contracts to disclose labor law violations and create new compliance advisors at agencies to oversee decisions about which firms get the work.

 

But contractors, already facing executive orders requiring them to pay a higher minimum wage and subjecting them to additional anti-discrimination rules, say the president went too far.

 

“We are concerned these sweeping changes threaten the due process rights of federal contractors and conflict with existing federal procurement and labor law,” said Geoff Burr, vice president of government for Associated Builders and Contractors. “ABC and the federal contracting community across all industries are prepared to fight this order in the courts and in Congress.”

John Meyers, a labor and employment lawyer at the firm Barnes & Thornburg, said federal funding cuts, including those linked to sequestration, have been particularly painful for contractors.

The new requirements represent additional costs for companies vying for contracts from Uncle Sam, he said.