MCAA Government Affairs Update for the Week of March 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, March 2, 2026 MCAA Lobbying Firm, Longbow Public Policy Group provided the following information:

Trump Administration

• The MCAA policy team was busy last week distilling the first State of the Union address of President Trump’s second term. Of particular interest to the MCAA, the President responded to the growing state and local resistance to new data centers by promising new “ratepayer protection pledges,” that several technology firms are expected to sign at a White House meeting this week. These pledges are expected to commit AI companies to bearing the cost of the incremental electricity demands of new data centers without shifting costs onto residential customers by building dedicated power generation for their AI facilities. On housing, Trump called on Congress to enact legislation to restrict private equity firms from buying homes. On healthcare, he pressed Congress to codify his “most favored nation” prescription drug pricing policy, tying U.S. drug prices to the lowest prices paid by other developed nations. Finally, the President announced plans to expand access to retirement savings through a program modeled on the Thrift Savings Plan for federal employees, which Treasury Secretary Bessent later said could be enacted through a second budget reconciliation bill, like the one used to enact the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last July. This has renewed moribund congressional discussions about a second reconciliation bill that MCAA is closely monitoring.

• Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on February 20^th in Learning Resources, Inc. et al. v. Trump invalidating tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), last week President Trump issued two executive orders and a proclamation related to tariffs. Executive Order 14389 directs agencies to terminate the invalidated IEEPA-based tariffs and modify the Harmonized Tariff Schedule accordingly, while Proclamation 11012 invokes Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to impose a temporary 10% global import surcharge for up to 150 days, effective February 24, 2026, with exemptions for certain energy products, pharmaceuticals, USMCA-compliant goods, and items subject to Section 232 tariff actions unaffected by the Supreme Court’s tariff decision. Executive Order 14388 continues the suspension of duty-free de minimis treatment for low-value imports so that tariffs on these goods continue to be collected. U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed it will halt collection of the invalidated IEEPA tariffs and deactivate the associated tariff codes. Meanwhile, Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) and 26 Senate Democrats introduced legislation to require the approximately $175 billion in collected tariff revenues be refunded with interest over 180 days, prioritizing relief for small businesses. These developments come as Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) indicated the Republican Congress is unlikely to codify the Administration’s tariff agenda, raising uncertainty about whether the new temporary 10% tariff ordered under Section 122 will last beyond the 150 days the President can unilaterally impose it without action by Congress.

• Last Thursday, the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) published a proposed rule to rescind the 2024 MCAA-supported, Biden-era independent contractor rule. As the MCAA expected, the proposal replaces the Biden-era rule with the 2021 framework imposed during President Trump’s first term that relies on a streamlined “economic reality” test that makes it easier to classify a worker as an independent contractor instead of as an employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The proposal goes beyond the 2021 standard insofar as it makes some slight clarifications to the 2021 final rule, modifies and adds some examples, and applies the streamlined test for worker classification determinations beyond the FLSA to the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Migrant Seasonal Worker Protection Act. Comments on the proposed rule are due by April 28, 2026. This outcome was something that the MCAA’s policy team anticipated from our conversations with the Trump Administration. As we previously reported, in April 2025, the Administration stopped defending and paused several pending lawsuits over the Biden-era independent contractor rule, pledging to revisit it. The WHD promptly issued guidance in the spring of 2025 announcing it had ceased enforcement of the 2024 rule. The same day DOL issued the revised standard for worker classification, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) formally reinstated its 2020 joint employer rule that the Biden-era NLRB had rescinded and replaced. The reinstated 2020 rule will make it harder for companies to be joint employers under the National Labor Relations Act by requiring a company to exercise “substantial direct and immediate” control over another employer’s workers to be deemed a joint employer. The Board characterized the action as ministerial because it was effectuating a court ruling that invalided the Biden-era NLRB rule. As a result, the NLRB is not accepting comments on this action.

• As the MCAA continues lobbying to defend the MCAA-supported, Biden-era project labor agreement (PLA) Executive Order and the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council regulations implementing it, last Thursday we were pleased to see the General Services Administration (GSA) reissue its “Pre-Solicitation Notice for design-build services for the new United States courthouse in Hartford, CT” that was being challenged for including a PLA clause based on recent U.S. Federal Court of Claims rulings holding that requiring PLAs on large-scale federal construction projects violates the full and open competition requirements of the Competition in Contracting Act. GSA is re-soliciting the proposal to move the Hartford Courthouse project forward with a PLA requirement by invoking the public interest exception to full and open competition requirements of the Competition in Contracting Act at 41 U.S.C. § 3304(a)(7) “to respond to the Court of Federal Claims’ decisions on PLAs.” GSA says that invoking the exception “simply allows GSA to comply with FAR subpart 22.5 and Executive Branch policy by including mandatory PLA requirements.” GSA goes on to clarify that “[n]o firms are excluded from the competition” due to the PLA requirement. The GSA Administrator’s accompanying Determination invoking the public interest exception explains that President Biden’s PLA Executive Order “has not been revoked and remains the policy of the Trump Administration” pursuant to OMB Memorandum M25-29, which the MCAA and others in the union construction industry lobbied to secure from OMB last summer. The GSA Determination details the public interest in using a PLA in the same terms the MCAA uses in its advocacy for these contracting vehicles. It says:
  
  “PLAs have multiple benefits, including predictable labor costs, a steady supply of labor, coordination among multiple employers, and certainty about the terms and conditions of employment. PLAs provide structure and stability, avoid labor-related disruptions by using dispute-resolution processes to resolve worksite disputes, and prohibit work stoppages. PLAs secure the commitment of all stakeholders on a construction site to efficient completion without unnecessary interruptions. These benefits help ensure the efficient and timely completion of construction contracts, particularly where, as here, projects are large, complex, and of extended duration. The public has an interest in achieving these benefits on large-scale construction projects.”

• As the MCAA continues engagement with the Trump Administration on accelerating the deployment of nuclear technology, we wanted to highlight a proposed rule from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) concerning the regulation of fusion machines. The NRC is proposing to regulate fusion machines under its existing byproduct material framework at 10 CFR Part 30, rather than under nuclear power plant licensing regulations, concluding that the radioactive materials and hazards associated with fusion are more aligned with particle accelerator technologies. The proposed rule implements provisions of the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act and the MCAA-advocated Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act, which formally classified fusion machine-generated radioactive material as byproduct material. While the NRC determined that existing emergency preparedness, physical security, radiation protection, and waste disposal standards are generally adequate, the proposal includes targeted fusion-specific requirements to streamline future licensing. The rule is intended to prepare the agency for anticipated commercial fusion applications and further advance the regulatory framework supporting next-generation nuclear technologies. Comments on the proposed rule are due by May 27, 2026 and should be submitted through the federal eRulemaking portal using Docket ID NRC-2023-0071. The NRC will conduct at least one public meeting on this proposed rule, with dates, times, locations, agendas, and access information to be announced in a future Federal Register notice.

• As the MCAA continues engaging on registered apprenticeship and workforce development issues with the Trump Administration, we were informed last Wednesday that the Labor Department released an $81 million grant funding opportunity announcement for the Reentry Employment in Skilled Trades, Advanced Manufacturing, Registered Apprenticeships, and Training (RESTART) Initiative. This discretionary grant program administered by the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) will support workforce readiness and employment for ex-offenders through training that prepares them to work or enter apprenticeships in the skilled trades, advanced manufacturing, and other high-demand sectors. ETA anticipates up to 20 awards ranging from $1 million to $5.1 million, with no cost-sharing requirement. The announcement does not expressly reference joint labor-management trusts, but states that eligible applicants include “nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status, including national or regional intermediaries that must identify sub-grantees across at least three non-contiguous metropolitan areas or rural regions.” Other eligible applicants include state governments, federally recognized tribal governments, and tribal organizations. Applications must be submitted electronically through Grants.gov no later than 11:59 p.m. ET on April 15, 2026.

• Following the MCAA’s successful lobbying efforts to turn back cuts to geothermal energy tax credits in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year, we have engaged the Administration to support the deployment of geothermal power. So we were pleased last Wednesday when the Energy Department announced $171.5 million in funding for field-scale geothermal projects to advance next-generation technologies and reduce subsurface risk for commercial deployment. The Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) supports enhanced geothermal systems (EGS), closed-loop approaches, and drilling activities to accelerate both next-generation and conventional hydrothermal resource development. DOE analysis indicates geothermal could provide 300 gigawatts or more of power by 2050 if technical barriers are addressed. In this funding round, DOE is accepting applications under Topic Area 1 for enhanced geothermal field tests at sites with potential for commercial-scale electricity generation, including reservoir stimulation to enhance permeability and circulate fluids through hot rock formations. It is also accepting applications for Topic Area 6 for drilling reservoir-depth exploration, characterization, and confirmation wells to gather site-specific data and de-risk future projects, with preference for previously unexamined geologic formations. Additional topic areas—including closed-loop field tests, superhot systems above 375°C, and direct-use thermal applications—are included in the NOFO but are not open in this round. Letters of intent are due March 27, 2026, and full applications are due April 30, 2026.

• As we continue to engage on issues around retirement plans, we wanted to flag that there is growing interest in Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) on Capitol Hill and in the Trump Administration. That interest was illustrated last Tuesday when the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) released a report to Congress highlighting continued growth in employee ownership and outlining efforts to expand ESOPs, signaling potential legislative or regulatory activity in the coming year. The report found that over the past decade, the number of ESOP participants has increased by 8%, the number of worker cooperatives has more than doubled, and employee ownership trusts have grown in popularity since first being established in the U.S. in 2014. The report details progress under the Employee Ownership Initiative, created by the SECURE 2.0 Act, including outreach and education efforts, support for state-level programs, technical assistance for businesses, and expansion of a public resource website. EBSA said it plans to continue expanding the initiative, subject to available resources, as part of its broader role overseeing retirement, health, and other job-based benefit plans.

Congress

• As House Republicans continue navigating their razor-thin majority, late last week, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) told GOP donors that Rep. Neal Dunn (R-FL), who announced his retirement last month, may have a “terminal diagnosis.” Johnson’s comments came after Dunn said he wants to serve out the remainder of his term, pushing back on reports that he might narrow House Republicans’ slim majority by resigning ahead of the midterm elections. The developments around Rep. Dunn come as GOP Rep. Tony Gonzales (TX) said he will not resign following the release of inappropriate texts that he exchanged with a former staffer who later committed suicide. Several GOP lawmakers, including Reps. Lauren Boebert (CO), Anna Paulina Luna (FL), Nancy Mace (SC), Thomas Massie (KY), and Tim Burchett (TN), have called for Gonzales’ resignation or for him to end his reelection bid. Gonzales claims that he is being blackmailed in connection with a lawsuit from the deceased staffer’s husband and characterized the matter as politically motivated. Speaker Johnson described the allegations as “very serious” but stopped short of calling for Gonzales’ resignation, saying the issue should be addressed with his constituents in this Tuesday’s primary election.

• MCAA’s lobbying team is already engaged on appropriations deliberations for fiscal year 2027. Last Wednesday, House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-OK) lifted the ban on Labor-HHS-Education earmarks and increased—from 15 to 20—the number of earmarks lawmakers may seek in the fiscal year 2027 appropriations bills. Cole also set deadlines for members to submit earmark requests for certain appropriations bills. The deadline for earmark proposals for the Agriculture-FDA and MilCon-VA appropriations bills is March 13^th. The deadline for earmark proposals on the Energy-Water, Interior-Environment, Transportation-HUD, and Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bills is March 20^th.

• As part of our advocacy on permitting reform, last week the MCAA engaged around a House Science Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight hearing last Tuesday entitled, “Powering America’s AI Future: Assessing Policy Options to Increase Data Center Infrastructure.” During the hearing, Republicans uniformly emphasized these points and argued that lengthy permitting timelines under NEPA, the Clean Water Act, and other statutes, along with litigation and ineffective federal backstop authority, are delaying transmission lines, power plants, and related infrastructure critical to national security and economic growth. Lawmakers also highlighted the MCAA-supported SPEED Act as a permitting reform measure that will accelerate grid expansion. Democrats acknowledged the economic importance of AI, and some noted the need for permitting reform, but they all expressed concerns about rapid data center expansion straining electric grids, raising residential electricity costs, increasing water consumption and polluting host communities. Hearing witness Paige Lambermont of the Competitive Enterprise Institute attributed rising power scarcity to policy-driven retirements of coal and other types of fossil fuel fired power plants and urged broad-based permitting reform, including changes to environmental statutes and expanded options for off-grid “consumer regulated electricity” models. Marsden Hanna of Google stressed that transmission congestion and fragmented permitting threaten U.S. competitiveness, endorsed expanded federal transmission authority and streamlined reviews, and highlighted Google’s multi-billion-dollar data center investments across several states. Dr. Eric Masanet of the University of California, Santa Barbara focused on the lack of standardized, timely public information on the energy and water data centers use, arguing that federal data collection, and greater transparency are essential for accurately assessing infrastructure needs and community impacts. The hearing comes as a new poll last Monday found data centers are emerging as a political flashpoint ahead of the midterm elections. Pluralities in both parties support new construction, with Republican voters—particularly self-identified MAGA Republicans—more supportive than Democrats. Voters are concerned about higher electricity costs, blackout risks, and taxpayer impacts, and Democrats are more likely to say they would oppose candidates backing local data center development.

• Last week, the House passed the Don’t Mess with My Home Appliances Act (H.R. 4626), a bill to prohibit the Department of Energy from issuing any new or amended energy efficiency standards for appliances and equipment that are not technologically feasible and economically justified. The bill passed the House last Tuesday by a vote of 217-209 and now heads to the Senate for consideration.

• There were several developments in races for the U.S. Senate last week. In Maine, a new poll shows Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner leading Gov. Janet Mills (D) 64% to 26% in the Democratic primary and holding a 49% to 38% advantage over incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) in a hypothetical general election matchup. In Louisiana, Rep. Julia Letlow (R-LA), who President Trump endorsed in Louisiana’s U.S. Senate race against incumbent Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), violated the STOCK Act when she failed to report 210 individual stock trades over the past two years. In Texas, new polling shows Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D) leading state Sen. James Talarico (D) 56% to 44% in the state’s Democratic U.S. Senate primary, while on the Republican side Ken Paxton and incumbent Sen. John Cornyn are tied at 36% and Rep. Wesley Hunt is at 26%. This polling comes as national Republicans express concern that a costly and divisive GOP Senate primary could complicate efforts to hold the Texas Senate seat, especially given the Democratic enthusiasm this cycle illustrated by early voting in Texas that has surged compared to both the 2022 midterm cycle and the 2024 presidential primary.

• There were several developments in races for the U.S. House last week. In Colorado, President Trump withdrew his endorsement of Rep. Jeff Hurd (R-CO) in Colorado’s 3^rd Congressional District and endorsed his primary challenger Hope Scheppelman because Hurd voted to terminate the national emergency underlying Trump’s Canada tariffs. In Utah, a federal court rejected an effort by Utah’s Republican-led Legislature to block the use of new congressional maps that improve Democrats’ chances of flipping a seat in Utah’s 1^st Congressional District. In Virginia, Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) signed legislation advancing a mid-decade redistricting plan that, if approved by voters in an April 21 referendum and upheld in court, would create 10 Democratic-leaning U.S. House districts in the state and leave just one Republican district. These developments come as House Democrats are expanding their 2026 map deep into Trump-won districts as they need just three seats to reclaim the majority.

Around the Country

• As the MCAA continues its advocacy on federal permitting reform to accelerate the buildout of energy and transmission infrastructure needed to support data center growth, we have been warning in recent months of rising state and local resistance to new data centers that is increasingly being reflected in Congress. That opposition is now translating into measurable delays as detailed last Tuesday in a Data Center Watch report detailing 20 projects representing roughly $96 billion in investment that were blocked or delayed in the second quarter of 2025 alone due to local opposition. More than 200 state bills aimed at regulating data centers were introduced last year, 40 of which became law. A separate industry analysis warns that power constraints, grid equipment shortages, and political pushback could delay up to half of global data center projects considered in 2026. During a panel discussion last week at the National Association of Counties’ Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C. that the MCAA monitored, participants described growing local concern over what some characterized as a “race to the bottom,” as communities offer escalating concessions to attract data center projects without fully weighing long-term infrastructure and fiscal impacts. Tony Clark of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners acknowledged “frustration” among state and local officials who are “subject to the whims of tech companies exploring multiple sites at once and looking at how quickly they can get power and at what cost.” These discussions comes as a new report from Community & Environmental Defense Services claims emissions from data centers may pose health risks for residents living within 0.6 miles of facilities, with potential impacts increasing where multiple centers are clustered. In Maine, two communities last Monday voted to pause proposed data center projects as lawmakers consider creating a data center coordination council and imposing a moratorium on new facilities above 20 megawatts until July 1, 2028. Similar efforts in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, and Virginia seek to scale back incentives or slow approvals.

• Despite the growing resistance to data centers, last week the Trump Administration signaled its continuing support for efforts to build out large-scale power generation and grid infrastructure improvements that data centers require when the Energy Department’s (DOE) Office of Energy Dominance Financing (EDF) closed a $26.5 billion loan package to subsidiaries of Southern Company in Georgia and Alabama. It is the largest loan in the Department’s history. The money will support the development of more than 16 gigawatts of power capacity, including 5 GW of new natural gas generation, 6 GW of nuclear uprates and license renewals, hydropower upgrades, battery storage systems, and more than 1,300 miles of transmission line and grid enhancement projects. The financing is expected to deliver more than $7 billion in electricity cost savings and reduce Southern Company’s interest expenses by over $300 million annually once fully disbursed.

• Amid mounting grid reliability concerns in the Mid-Atlantic, last Tuesday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright issued an emergency order directing PJM Interconnection (PJM) to coordinate with Constellation Energy Corporation to ensure Units 3 and 4 of the Eddystone Generating Station outside Philadelphia remain available for operation and to employ economic dispatch to minimize costs for consumers. The order is effective through May 24, 2026.

• MCAA members operating in Colorado should be aware that last Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal by Exxon Mobil and Suncor Energy seeking to dismiss a Colorado lawsuit brought by the City of Boulder and Boulder County that aims to hold energy companies financially liable for climate change impacts. The companies argue that such claims are preempted by federal law, including the Clean Air Act, and therefore cannot proceed under state consumer protection statutes. The Court’s eventual ruling is expected to have nationwide implications, potentially determining whether similar climate liability lawsuits filed by cities and municipalities across the country may move forward.

• MCAA members operating in Minnesota should be aware that last Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition from business groups in Minnesota that challenged the state’s ban on mandatory anti-union “captive audience” meetings at work. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit dismissed the lawsuit brought by the business groups, which included the Minnesota Chapter of the Associated Builders and Contractors, in September 2025 without deciding the merits because the plaintiffs failed to show a sufficient threat of imminent enforcement.

• MCAA members operating in Kansas should be aware that last Monday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a unilateral administrative order under the Clean Water Act to Atlas Operating, LLC, following the discharge of an estimated 33,600 gallons of a mixture of brine production water and crude oil into an unnamed tributary of the Chikaskia River and the Chikaskia River in Kansas. EPA ordered the company to stop the flow, recover and remove oil, contaminated soils, and debris at the discharge site, recover oil and oil-impacted debris along affected shorelines, and properly dispose of all wastes. The agency stated that cleanup actions must be completed by March 13, 2026.