MCAA Government Affairs Update for the Week of February 2, 2026: The Latest Developments Impacting Our Industry

As part of its ongoing commitment to protecting your livelihood and setting the stage for a bright future, MCAA has secured the services of Longbow Public Policy Group to advise our MCAA Government Affairs Committee (GAC). GAC Chair, Jim Gaffney will be passing along information relative to our industry on a regular basis.

On Monday, February 2, 2026 MCAA Lobbying Firm, Longbow Public Policy Group provided the following information:

Trump Administration

• As this week begins, Congress is racing to close a tentative deal the White House and Senate Democrats made late last week to fund the government following the expiration of the stop-gap funding measure enacted in November after the lengthy government shutdown. The deal separates the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bill from a broader package containing the five remaining appropriations measures and advances a short continuing resolution (CR) to keep DHS funded at current levels until February 13 while lawmakers debate proposed changes to immigration enforcement. Senate leaders had been expected to quickly clear the remaining bills covering roughly $1.2 trillion in funding for Defense, Labor-HHS, Transportation-HUD (which includes funding for the Pipeline Safety Hazardous Materials Administration), Financial Services-General Government, and State and Foreign Operations funding fiscal year 2026 appropriations for approximately 96% of federal government operations. However, floor action stalled late last week after Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) objected to expedited consideration of the funding package. This week, we will see if divisions within the narrowly divided House GOP majority over both the short-term DHS funding measure and new limits Democrats are pushing on immigration enforcement will further delay finishing the fiscal year 2026 funding bills.

• Because MCAA has been engaged in ongoing permitting reform and decarbonization discussions with the Trump Administration, this week we got advance notice of President Trump’s surprise Executive Order (EO) 14377, “Addressing State and Local Failures to Rebuild Los Angeles After Wildfire Disasters” and the Interim Final Rule (IFR) the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) released on Thursday to implement it. The IFR enables SBA disaster loan borrowers to bypass certain state and local permitting requirements for rebuilding if the borrower has been unable to obtain required permitting approvals for 60 days or longer. Borrowers may have their builders self-certify compliance with state and local regulations and immediately begin rebuilding. The IFR requires builders to certify to the SBA that: (1) all required permit applications and approval requests were properly submitted more than 60 days earlier; (2) the delay in rebuilding is due to government inaction; and (3) all applicable building codes, health and safety requirements, inspections, and any other processes required to obtain a certificate of occupancy have been, and will be, met. More on the certification process and the related forms with the attestations contractors must sign is available here. While the situation in California prompted the Executive Order and the SBA rule, the rulemaking is not limited to California. It establishes a standard of general applicability for rebuilding funded with SBA disaster loans in any federally declared disaster area where state or local permitting delays are the “but-for” cause of delays of 60 days or more. The IFR applies retroactively to disaster loans approved on or after January 1, 2025. Although the rule took effect upon publication on January 29, 2026, the SBA is accepting public comments here through March 2, 2026 using RIN 3245-AI71.

• The MCAA also saw progress last week on permitting reform on the regulatory front, with the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Permitting Innovation Center last Thursday launching a pilot called CE Works. CE Works is a digital platform designed to streamline categorical exclusion determinations under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The pilot begins at the Bureau of Land Management’s Moab Field Office, with additional agency partnerships expected. The program was developed in coordination with the General Services Administration to modernize federal permitting technology pursuant to President Trump’s April 15, 2025 memorandum “Updating Permitting Technology for the 21^st Century.” CEQ says the tool will help cut red tape and accelerate timelines for infrastructure and energy projects.

• The MCAA’s outreach to the Department of Labor, to the extent it was channeled through the Secretary’s office, is becoming more complicated as the investigation into Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, her Chief of Staff, and her Deputy Chief of Staff continues. Both the Chief of Staff and Deputy Chief of Staff have been placed on administrative leave during the investigation. This week scrutiny of the Secretary expanded to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee as Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) sent Secretary DeRemer a letter demanding her response to multiple allegations currently being investigated by the Labor Department’s Inspector General. Chairman Grassley asked the Secretary to respond by February 11, 2026, about allegations that while on official travel she took staff to a strip club in Portland, Oregon and fabricated other official work trips for personal travel at taxpayer expense. The Chairman also requested details about the Secretary’s travel to Palm Beach and four visits to Las Vegas last year, two of which included a staffer with whom she allegedly had an inappropriate relationship. Through her personal attorney, the Secretary has denied any wrongdoing, but she has not remarked on any of the allegations herself.

• MCAA health plan trustees need to know that last week the Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) published its long-awaited proposed rulemaking to implement section 12 of President Trump’s April 15, 2025 Executive Order (EO) 14273, “Lowering Drug Prices by Once Again Putting Americans First.” The 78-page proposal is intended to help trustees of self-insured health plans gain greater transparency into the direct and indirect compensation received by pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). It would require both providers of PBM services and affiliated providers of brokerage and consulting services to disclose compensation information to fiduciaries of ERISA self-insured group health plans. This is intended to enable fiduciaries to satisfy their legal obligation under ERISA to assess both the “reasonableness of the compensation” in light of the services being provided and the potential for or existence of conflicts of interest that may impact the quality of services provided. These disclosures would be provided on an initial basis prior to the self-insured group health plan entering into a service contract or arrangement and then on a semiannual basis thereafter. To ensure further transparency, the proposed rule includes provisions permitting the responsible plan fiduciary to audit PBM disclosures for accuracy. The rule also requires PBMs to detail the authority they retain to change a plan formulary and how often they expect to do so and requires PBMs to state affirmatively when they are acting as a plan fiduciary and list any relevant conflicts of interest. EBSA is also proposing a Prohibited Transaction Exemption intended to ensure that a covered service provider’s failure to comply with the proposed requirements will not result in a prohibited transaction by a responsible plan fiduciary acting diligently and in good faith with this regulation and other applicable laws and regulations. Comments are due by March 31, 2026 and should be submitted through the federal eRulemaking portal using RIN 1210-AB37.

• MCAA health plan trustees may also be interested to see that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the list of 15 new medications selected for the Medicare drug price negotiation program under Medicare Part B (medical/outpatient coverage, including certain physician-administered drugs)andPart D (prescription drug coverage). The selected drugs treat conditions including HIV, type 2 diabetes, chronic lung disease, depression, and include Botox for Medicare-covered uses such as chronic migraines and overactive bladder. The medications to be negotiated this year include: Anoro Ellipta, Biktarvy, Botox and Botox Cosmetic, Cimzia, Cosentyx, Entyvio, Erleada, Kisqali, Lenvima, Orencia, Rexulti, Trulicity, Verzenio, Xeljanz and Xeljanz XR, and Xolair. According to CMS, these drugs accounted for approximately $27 billion in combined Medicare Part B and Part D spending between November 2024 and October 2025—about 6% of total Part B and Part D drug spending during that period. A CMS fact sheet on the update is available here.

• We wanted to be sure that MCAA pension plan trustees were aware that last Tuesday the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) released its fiscal year (FY) 2025 Annual Report showing continued improvement in the financial condition of its Multiemployer insurance program, reflecting in part the ongoing effects of the Special Financial Assistance (SFA) program. The Multiemployer Program reported assets of $4.9 billion and liabilities of $2.3 billion as of September 30, 2025, resulting in a positive net position of $2.6 billion—an improvement of $516 million during the fiscal year. PBGC reported paying $6.2 billion in SFA to 48 financially troubled multiemployer plans in FY 2025, helping stabilize plan funding and contributing to the program’s long-term solvency outlook, even as the program also paid $169 million in traditional financial assistance to insolvent plans. Last week, PBGC also released its FY 2024 Projections Report showing the Multiemployer Program is expected to remain solvent for at least the next 40 years.

• As MCAA continues engaging the Trump Administration on its plans for implementing President Trump’s Executive Order on “Preparing Americans for High-Paying Skilled Trade Jobs of the Future,” we wanted to make you aware that last week the Department of Labor announced that National Apprenticeship Week 2026 will be held April 26 through May 2. The theme will be “America at Work: Making America Skilled Again Through Registered Apprenticeship.” National Apprenticeship Week will feature events across all 50 states and U.S. territories highlighting how Registered Apprenticeship expands career pathways for workers and helps employers meet workforce needs in industries such as the skilled trades, nuclear, energy, shipbuilding, advanced manufacturing, and artificial intelligence.

• MCAA contractors and workers engaged in pipeline, industrial piping, and energy infrastructure inspection and repair projects may see increased compliance scrutiny and potential retrofit demand following new federal safety guidance from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) warning hazardous liquid pipeline operators about the integrity risks associated with the long-term use of Type A repair sleeves, citing multiple incidents that resulted in significant environmental damage and industry costs. PHMSA said incident data shows that failures of Type A sleeves—steel sleeves welded around a pipeline but not welded to the carrier pipe—have been linked to improper installation, moisture intrusion, corrosion fatigue, inadequate cathodic protection, and pressure cycling, particularly where annular spaces are not properly sealed. The advisory highlights recent pipeline releases in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania where leaks originated beneath aging Type A sleeves and urges operators to strengthen integrity management by improving recordkeeping, validating inline inspection data, inventorying and assessing all installed Type A sleeves as potential integrity threats, conducting fatigue analyses for sleeves subject to pressure cycling, and enhancing leak detection and monitoring practices. PHMSA also reminded operators that unauthorized or poorly executed sleeve installations may be subject to enforcement under existing pipeline safety regulations, while emphasizing that the advisory does not impose new regulatory requirements but provides technical guidance to prevent future failures.

• As the Labor Department works to help employers understand their obligations under federal labor and employment laws, the WHD last Tuesday highlighted compliance assistance tools explaining federal labor laws so well-intentioned companies can avoid violations. The materials that we were encouraged to share with MCAA members include a dedicated compliance webpage, a video series on the Family and Medical Leave Act, and updated industry-specific toolkits, including one for the construction industry, and another for government contractors. These resources are designed to encourage proactive compliance and provide clear, practical guidance for employers and workers. These latest compliance assistance efforts build on the department’s recent relaunch of its opinion letter program and renewal of the Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) program. The PAID program allows employers to self-report and resolve potential minimum wage, overtime, and certain FMLA violations, while avoiding certain penalties they would have to pay if these violations were the subject of an enforcement action.

Congress

• As part of our legislative efforts to advance federal permitting reform through Congress, last week MCAA engaged with the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in connection with its second permitting reform hearing this Congress. Witnesses included LiUNA General President Brent Booker, Bechtel CEO Brendan Bechtel, and Dustin Meyer of the American Petroleum Institute, among other energy and infrastructure stakeholders. The hearing underscored bipartisan concern that current federal environmental review and permitting processes continue to delay or cancel major energy infrastructure projects—particularly interstate natural gas pipelines, liquefied natural gas export facilities, and cross-border oil and gas development—creating uncertainty for contractors, workers, and investors. Witnesses also emphasized that extended litigation timelines and state-level water quality certifications under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act have frequently been used to stall pipeline projects, discouraging capital investment, and contributing to higher regional energy costs.
  
  The MCAA succeeded in prompting members at the hearing to acknowledge broad agreement that federal permitting reform should be project- and technology-neutral, provide certainty for approved projects, reduce redundant administrative reviews, and impose clear timelines and limits on judicial review while preventing future administrations from unilaterally terminating previously approved projects. These priorities reflect the core principles the MCAA has consistently advanced in its ongoing engagement with lawmakers and industry stakeholders. Committee Chair Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Ranking Member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) both stressed the need to act on legislation this year, although Senator Whitehouse cautioned that progress would remain difficult unless the Trump Administration lifts its pause on previously approved offshore wind and other renewable energy projects approved during the Biden Administration.

• Last Monday, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Republicans announced the creation of a new task force to combat fraud in federal spending, citing concerns that waste, fraud, and abuse are siphoning taxpayer dollars away from programs intended to support families, workers, patients, and retirees. The initiative follows heightened scrutiny of alleged large-scale misuse of federal welfare funds in Minnesota. The Task Force will be organized through the committee’s health, education, labor and pensions subcommittees. The Labor & Pensions component of the task force will be led by Sens. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) and Tim Scott (R-SC), who will examine fraud affecting federal labor programs, retirement security, and worker benefits, with a focus on improper payments and misuse of funds intended for workers and seniors. Committee leaders said the task force will pursue aggressive oversight and investigations across federal programs and has launched a public tip portal to allow whistleblowers and citizens to report suspected fraud involving taxpayer dollars. MCAA will be watching to see if this Task Force raises issues about multiemployer pension plans or the Special Financial Assistance Program. Meanwhile, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee last Monday indefinitely postponed a scheduled hearing on “Examining Fraud in State and Federal Programs.”

• There were several developments in races for the U.S. Senate last week. In Georgia, non-partisan election analyst Larry Sabato shifted Senator Jon Ossoff’s (D) Georgia re-election bid from “toss-up” to “leans Democratic” and in Florida, Sen. Ashley Moody’s (R-FL) re-election bid from “safe Republican” to “likely Republican.” The ratings change in the Florida Senate race came after Alex Vindman, the former National Security Council official who testified against President Trump during his first impeachment trial, announced he is running as a Democrat against Senator Moody. In Michigan, a new poll finds state Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D) leading the crowded Democratic U.S. Senate primary field with 22%, followed by Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) in second at 17%, and progressive activist Abdul El-Sayed in third at 16%. In Texas, a new analysis revealed that the campaign manager for Rep. Wesley Hunt’s (R-TX) U.S. Senate bid, James Kyrkanides, charged taxpayers more than $44,000 in hotel expenses while he worked as Hunt’s chief of staff.

• There were several developments in races for the U.S. House last week. In Massachusetts, gun safety advocate and former DNC co-chair David Hogg’s Leaders We Deserve PACendorsed voting rights attorney Patrick Roath in his Democratic primary challenge to Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) in Massachusetts’ 8^th Congressional District after Roath outraised Lynch by a more than 2-1 margin last year. In Florida, Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL), a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee, announced he will not seek re-election to Florida’s 16^th Congressional District. Washington, D.C., Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) announced that she will not seek re-election, ending a more than three-decade tenure as Washington, D.C.’s non-voting delegate to the House amid mounting concerns about her age and ability to continue serving. In Maryland, the state’s House of Delegates released a proposed constitutional amendment to implement a new congressional map for 2026. In Virginia, a state judge issued an injunction blocking Democrats from moving forward with redrawing the state’s congressional lines before the 2026 midterms, a setback for Democrats who will appeal the ruling.

Around the Country

• The Trump Administration’s decision to freeze federal funding for the Gateway Development Commission’s $16 billion tunnel project will halt construction of the Hudson River rail tunnel linking New York City and northern New Jersey if it is not lifted by this Friday, February 6. Federal funds have been frozen since the government shutdown in October 2025. Project backers warn that a construction pause could jeopardize the entire multi-billion dollar project, and that stopgaps, such as additional backing from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, won’t be sufficient to close the funding gap. The pause follows public comments last year from President Trump suggesting that the Gateway project had been “terminated,” even as Trump Administration officials sent mixed signals about whether the promised funding will ultimately be released. New York and New Jersey lawmakers from both parties have vowed to fight the funding freeze, arguing that the Gateway Project is critical to the Northeast Corridor, regional economic stability, and thousands of union jobs.

• On the decarbonization front, MCAA contractors performing work on power plants, industrial facilities, and pipelines should note that last Wednesday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed Phase 1 of its reconsideration of the Biden-era “Good Neighbor Plan,” moving to approve State Implementation Plans (SIPs) related to the 2015 eight-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for Alabama, Arizona, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, and Tennessee. Under the proposal, these states would not be subject to additional federal “Good Neighbor Plan” requirements and could proceed with implementing the remainder of their SIPs. The original rule imposed stringent emissions-control obligations on sectors including power generation, natural gas pipeline operations, cement and steel manufacturing, metal mining, chemical production, and petroleum and coal product facilities.

• As the MCAA continues advocating for federal policies supporting nuclear energy deployment and expansion of the domestic nuclear supply chain, last week both federal agencies and private industry advanced complementary initiatives strengthening the U.S. nuclear industry. The Department of Energy (DOE) last Wednesday issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking state input on the potential establishment of Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses, envisioned as integrated, full-cycle nuclear hubs that could co-locate advanced reactors, data centers, advanced manufacturing, and key fuel cycle capabilities such as fabrication, enrichment, used fuel reprocessing, and waste disposition. DOE invited states to outline their interest in hosting a campus and identify priorities including workforce development, infrastructure investment, economic diversification, and technology leadership, while emphasizing reliance on private and state capital, targeted and time-limited federal support subject to appropriations, and strong financial assurances to protect taxpayers. Responses to the RFI are due April 1, 2026. Separately, advanced nuclear fuel startup Standard Nuclear announced it raised $140 million in Series A financing to scale domestic production of TRISO and HALEU-based fuels for next-generation reactors, with backing from investors including Decisive Point, Chevron Technology Ventures, StepStone Group, and Andreessen Horowitz. Based in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, the company has begun producing HALEU TRISO fuel and plans to expand annual output beyond two metric tons by mid-2026; has secured authorization to receive HALEU feedstock; participates in DOE’s Fuel Line Pilot Program; and has formed a joint venture with Framatome to supply commercial quantities of advanced reactor fuel. The expansion is intended to reinforce the domestic nuclear fuel supply chain as demand grows for advanced reactors supporting clean energy, defense, and data-center power needs.

• MCAA members operating in New York should be aware that last Wednesday, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) intervened in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) review of the proposed Constitution Pipeline Company LLC project, reiterating the state’s opposition to construction of roughly 100 miles of natural gas pipeline across New York. The DEC urged FERC to reject the company’s request to reissue a federal certificate and to declare that the state waived its authority under the Clean Water Act to act on the project’s water quality certification, warning it could seek judicial relief if FERC acts contrary to a 2017 U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruling that upheld New York’s earlier permit denial. The pipeline’s developer, a subsidiary of Williams Companies, maintains the project is meeting all environmental requirements and is needed to improve regional energy reliability.

• MCAA members operating in California should be aware that the state sued the Trump Administration on January 23^rd over federal approvals allowing offshore oil infrastructure activity along the state’s coastline. The contested approvals were the first ones issued in more than three decades for oil development off the California Coast. The lawsuit argues that the approval of the offshore permits unlawfully overrides California’s regulatory authority and environmental protections.

• MCAA members operating in Michigan should be aware that on January 23^rd, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against BP, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Shell, and the American Petroleum Institute, alleging the companies operated as an unlawful cartel for decades to suppress competition from renewable energy and maintain dominance in the transportation and energy markets. Filed in federal court, the lawsuit claims violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act, Clayton Act, and Michigan Antitrust Reform Act, asserting that the defendants coordinated through trade associations, abandoned renewable technologies, manipulated patents and litigation, and misled the public and policymakers about the costs of fossil fuels. Michigan argues these actions inflated home and transportation energy prices, reduced consumer choice, delayed the deployment of cost-effective renewable alternatives, and exacerbated the state’s broader energy affordability and climate-related economic impacts.