The Department of Defense has ordered its contracting officers to halt the use of project labor agreements on “large-scale construction projects,” according to a memo obtained by Construction Dive. The notice, dated Feb. 7, says contracting officers shall remove PLA requirements created by former President Joe Biden that apply to projects receiving $35 million or more in federal funds. As part of the memo — signed by John M. Tenaglia, principal director of defense pricing, contracting and acquisition policy for the DOD — contracting officers were ordered to amend solicitations for federal contracts to remove PLA requirements. The memo comes a few weeks after a U.S. Federal Claims judge hamstrung the order by ruling in favor of a group of construction companies that filed protests against the implementation of the mandate on specific projects. Judge Ryan Holte said in his Jan. 21 ruling that the implementation of the mandate on seven contract procedures in 2024 ignored federal agencies’ own research indicating PLAs would be anti-competitive and relied on “arbitrary and capricious” policy.
https://www.constructiondive.com/news/dod-plas-halted-federal-contracts-infrastructure-usace/739903/