Judge blocks Department of Labor's expanded Davis-Bacon rule
(UI) — A federal judge has issued a nationwide injunction against the U.S. Department of Labor's new rule expanding the Davis-Bacon Act (DBA). The ruling temporarily halts the enforcement of provisions that extend DBA coverage to truck drivers and material suppliers, as well as retroactively applying DBA requirements to contracts that did not originally include them.
The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) filed the lawsuit, arguing that the Department of Labor exceeded its statutory authority under the DBA. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas agreed, stating that the Department's actions violated the Constitution by attempting to amend the law without Congressional approval.
In the court's decision, it was declared that "Defendants engaged in egregious violations of Article II, section 3 of the Constitution... Presidents and their agencies cannot amend by executive fiat acts of Congress. Doing so violates the Constitution, and this preliminary injunction shall be issued to prevent this blatantly unlawful action."
Jeffrey Shoaf, AGC’s chief executive officer, emphasized that the Department's expansion of the rule goes beyond Congressional intent, and the injunction restores the original purpose of the Davis-Bacon Act.
AGC of America was joined by co-plaintiffs, including the Associated General Contractors of Texas, J. Lee Milligan, Inc., and the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce, with legal representation from Robert Roginson of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart P.C., and Fernando M. Bustos of Bustos Law Firm.
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