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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, December 22, 2025 MCAA Lobbying Firm, Longbow Public Policy Group provided the following information:

Trump Administration

• The White House had a difficult week last week, scrambling to contain fallout from a Vanity Fair interview with Chief of Staff Susie Wiles that raised questions about the judgment of key members of the Trump Administration, as well as the execution and consequences of several of President Trump’s signature policies. Wiles pushed back in a social media post, calling the article a “hit piece” that omitted “significant context” and sought to portray the administration as chaotic and dysfunctional. The controversy was compounded by sharp backlash over the President’s social media remarks about the murders of filmmaker and Trump critic Rob Reiner and his wife, which the President suggested were linked to “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” Trump’s comments were widely condemned as inappropriate and inflammatory by Republicans, including Reps. Thomas Massie (KY) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA). Against that backdrop, President Trump delivered a rare prime-time address on the economy last Tuesday, arguing that his policies are beginning to bring down prices for everyday goods such as groceries, holiday meals, and airfare, while urging Americans to be patient. The President promised that in the new year he would “announce some of the most aggressive housing reform plans in American history.” New polling showed that Trump’s approval rating slipped to 39%. There also appears to be waning enthusiasm within his base as the share of self-identified MAGA Republicans who strongly approve of his job performance fell to 70% (down 8 points from April) and as fewer Republicans identify with the MAGA wing of the GOP than earlier this year.

• We can expect the President to remain a strong advocate of nuclear power in the New Year. Last Thursday, Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of Truth Social, announced an all-stock merger with nuclear fusion firm TAE Technologies in a deal valued at more than $6 billion that aims to develop utility-scale fusion power to meet the growing energy demands of artificial intelligence. The combined company plans to begin construction next year on what it calls the world’s first commercial fusion power plant, positioning fusion as a long-term clean energy solution for data centers and other energy-intensive industries. The deal, which would create one of the first publicly-traded fusion companies and leave Trump as the largest shareholder.

• Finding workers who can pass a drug test will likely remain a challenge in the New Year and may be exacerbated by an executive order (EO) President Trump signed last Thursday to reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III controlled substance. The EO directs the Attorney General to expedite rescheduling marijuana from a Schedule I drug to a less dangerous and easier to purchase Schedule III drug. It instructs the White House to work with Congress to expand lawful access to cannabidiol (CBD) products while restricting unsafe products, and tasks HHS with developing new research methods to study the safety, efficacy, and long-term health effects of medical marijuana and hemp-derived cannabinoids and to inform federal standards of care for patients and clinicians. A fact sheet on the EO is available here. Some senior GOP Senators are worried that the EO poses serious health and economic threats to the nation and expressed their disagreement with the EO in a “sternly-worded” letter to the President spearheaded by Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC), a staunch Trump ally. It was signed by Senate GOP leaders Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-WY), Conference Chair Tom Cotton (R-AR), and Policy Committee Chair Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV).

• As the MCAA continues defending Davis-Bacon federal prevailing wage, MCAA members should be aware that last Wednesday, the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division announced new resources to help contractors and subcontractors comply with Davis-Bacon and Related Acts payroll reporting requirements, including an online, fillable version of the WH-347 weekly certified payroll form and a newly annotated version with step-by-step guidance. The updates aim to ease administrative burdens for firms working on federally funded or assisted construction projects, making it easier for them to submit timely and accurate prevailing wage surveys. WHD also highlighted its suite of Compliance Assistance Toolkits designed to help employers understand and comply with federal wage and hour laws. The toolkits provide step-by-step guidance, fact sheets, workplace posters, and access to free expert help. They include resources tailored to specific industries, such as construction, and topically focused toolkits for government contracting, FLSA Compliance, and FMLA Compliance.

• While MCAA successfully lobbied to get the Trump Administration to vacate the Biden-era Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rule that would have broadly prohibited noncompete agreements, as noted during the government affairs presentation at the Industry Funds Conference earlier this month, the Trump FTC has committed to a case-by-case enforcement approach to noncompetes deemed to have anticompetitive impacts on labor markets. As part of this effort, the FTC’s Joint Labor Task Force is hosting a public workshop on January 27, 2026, from 1:00pm to 5:00pm ET, titled “Moving Forward: Protecting Workers from Anticompetitive Noncompete Agreements.” The workshop will feature a keynote address from FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson and three panels—“Locked Out of Work: Victims of Anticompetitive Noncompetes,” “Unleashing the American Worker: Policy Perspectives on Noncompetes,” and “Counting the Costs: The Economics of Noncompetes.” The event will be held in person at the FTC’s headquarters in Washington, DC, and livestreamed on the FTC website. The Joint Labor Task Force was created by Chairman Ferguson to prioritize enforcement against deceptive, unfair, and anticompetitive labor-market practices.
  
• Last Tuesday, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas blocked the Labor Department from continuing internal adjudication proceedings tied to a former Kinder Morgan Inc. employee’s whistleblower complaint, siding with the company as it challenges the constitutionality of the agency’s in-house enforcement process. Judge Sim Lake ruled that Kinder Morgan is likely to succeed on its claim that Labor Department administrative law judges are unconstitutionally insulated from presidential removal due to dual layers of “for-cause” protections, echoing constitutional concerns raised by the Supreme Court’s 2024 SEC v. Jarkesy decision. The court found that forcing the company to proceed before agency judges while the constitutional challenge is unresolved would cause irreparable harm and granted an injunction halting the case.

• MCAA plan administrators should be aware that last Monday, the Labor Department, the IRS, and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) released informational copies of the 2025 Form 5500 series and related instructions previewing updates to annual reporting requirements for pension and welfare benefit plans. The agencies added new plan characteristic codes to better track multiemployer defined benefit plans that terminate due to mass withdrawal, plan amendments, or insolvency. Additional updates include a new code identifying defined benefit plans that use variable annuity formulas and clarification that an existing termination code applies only to single-employer plans covered by PBGC. Officials emphasized that the materials are for reference only and that filers must wait for the official electronic versions to be released through the EFAST2 system before submitting 2025 filings.

Congress

• Last Thursday, the MCAA realized a hard-fought win on the permitting reform front after the House voted 221-196 to pass the MCAA-championed Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act (H.R. 4776) to revise permitting processes and reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Eleven Democrats supported final passage and one Republican voted against the bill. To supplement our aggressive advocacy on the SPEED Act, which dates back to this summer, the MCAA sent a letter advocating enactment of the bill to House leadership before the House Rules Committee marked up the legislation earlier this week. The Republican rule for consideration of the bill deemed as passed an amendment from House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-MD) specifying that nothing in the bill would undo any actions taken by President Trump prior to the enactment of the bill. This includes the Trump Administration’s actions to halt, defund, or reconsider offshore wind projects that most Democrats support. Following the adoption of the Harris amendment, the American Clean Power Association withdrew its support for the bill, calling the amendment a “poison pill” that “allows the Trump Administration to continue to discriminate against clean energy technologies.” While this last minute opposition set off a scramble to keep the bill on track for passage, the MCAA worked with our allies to maintain bipartisan support for the bill despite this late stage hiccup.
  
• The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has a quorum after the Senate last Thursday voted 53-43 to confirm 97 Trump Administration nominees—including both James Murphy and Scott Mayer—to be members of the NLRB and Crystal Carey to be the NLRB General Counsel. This was the third bloc of nominees confirmed since Republicans changed Senate rules to permit approval of dozens of nominees with a single vote. The newly confirmed appointees also include: (1) Henry Mack to be the Labor Department’s (DOL) Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training (which oversees registered apprenticeship and DOL’s guestworker programs); (2) Rosario Palmieri to be DOL Assistant Secretary for Policy; (3) former Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY) to be DOL Inspector General; (4) Jeffrey Hall to be EPA Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance; (5) Douglas Troutman to be EPA Assistant Administrator for Toxic Substances; (6) Mitch Graves, Jeff Hagood, Randall Jones, and Arthur Graham to be TVA Board Members; (7) James Percival to be General Counsel of the Department of Homeland Security; and (8) Edward Forst to be Administrator of the General Services Administration.

• Last Wednesday, following Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) announcement that the House would not consider legislation to extend expiring enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium subsidies, GOP Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (PA), Mike Lawler (NY), Rob Bresnahan (PA), and Ryan Mackenzie (PA) joined Democrats on a discharge petition to force a vote on a straight three-year extension of the subsidies. This development frustrated GOP senators who previously defeated an identical proposal in the Senate. Republican Senators fear a House-passed straight reauthorization will revive pressure on the upper chamber and create additional challenges for Speaker Johnson and his razor-thin House Republican majority. The discharged bill is expected to be considered by the House next month and could spur broader health care negotiations. The prospects for another government shutdown were also increased last Thursday when Colorado’s Democratic Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper objected to advancing a five-bill appropriations “minibus” that would fund 85% of the federal budget for the remainder of the fiscal year. The package includes the funding bills for Labor-HHS, Defense, Commerce-Justice-Science, Interior-Environment, and Transportation-HUD. The Colorado lawmakers scuttled a last-minute deal to advance the appropriations package because of the Trump Administration’s move to dismantle a Colorado-based climate research center.
  
• Last Wednesday, the Senate voted 77-20 to pass the fiscal year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, sending the more than 3,100-page bill to President Trump. Of interest for the MCAA, the final bill authorizes $26 billion for shipbuilding, including for Virginia-class attack submarines, and authorizes funding to build additional Coast Guard cutters. Also of interest to MCAA, the final bill excluded Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) “Right-to-Repair” language supported by the Trump Pentagon to ensure the U.S. military retains access to data and parts necessary to repair its weapons systems.
  
• Scrutiny of large-scale data center expansion intensified on Capitol Hill last week as lawmakers raised concerns about electricity costs, grid impacts, and community oversight associated with the rapid buildout of AI infrastructure. Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren (MA), Chris Van Hollen (MD), and Richard Blumenthal (CT) pressed major technology companies for detailed information on data center build-outs and utility agreements, warning that the billions of dollars needed for grid upgrades, transmission expansion, and new power generation are increasingly being funded by increased rates for residential customers. The lawmakers cited estimates showing data centers already account for more than 4% of U.S. electricity use and cautioned that consumers could be left bearing infrastructure costs even if projected data center demand fails to materialize. Separately, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) called for a moratorium on new data center construction to allow policymakers to better assess the technology’s impacts. Data centers are becoming an increasingly partisan issue in Washington, DC. President Trump continues to champion a rapid buildout of data centers to ensure the U.S. is a leader in AI. Democrats are increasingly opposed to the proliferation of data centers over concerns about their impact on homeowners’ electricity bills—a key component of their “affordability” messaging heading into the November midterms.

• Last Monday, Senate Commerce Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-WA) sent letters to Pipeline Hazardous Materials and Safety Administration (PHMSA) Deputy Administrator Ben Kochman and Chief Counsel Keith Coyle, as well as Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) President & CEO Amy Andryszak over conflict of interest allegations raised by a recent ProPublica story. Kochman and Coyle are former employees of INGAA, and Cantwell stated that “PHMSA leadership is not heeding Congress’s directive and is instead pursuing a reckless safety rollback agenda—and that they are doing so at the behest of” INGAA. Cantwell notes that since being appointed to the agency, Kochman has signed at least 23 notices proposing or implementing amendments to pipeline safety rules.

• There were several developments in races for the U.S. House last week. In Washington state, Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) announced he will not seek reelection in the 4^th Congressional District. Rep. Newhouse is one of two remaining House Republicans who voted to impeach President Trump following the January 6^th attack on the U.S. Capitol. In Mississippi’s 2^nd Congressional District, Evan Turnage, a 33-year-old antitrust lawyer and former aide to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), launched a Democratic primary challenge against incumbent Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS). In Massachusetts, House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA) drew a primary challenge from progressive former Waltham City Councilor Jonathan Paz in the 5^th Congressional District. In Pennsylvania, Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) endorsed firefighter union leader Bob Brooks in his Democratic bid to defeat incumbent GOP Rep. Ryan Mackenzie in the 7^th Congressional District. In Iowa, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) is facing criticism after changing her voter registration to the 3rd Congressional District while continuing to represent—and run for reelection in—the 1st District, raising questions about where she primarily resides. And in Maryland, a new poll finds limited public support for Gov. Wes Moore’s (D-MD) push to redraw congressional maps, with just 27% of residents calling it a high priority as voters focus instead on health care costs, education, and crime.

Around the Country

• In addition to the growing opposition to data centers on Capitol Hill, last week there were several illustrations of growing concern about data centers among regulators at the federal and state level, as well as the general public. At the federal level, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) last week directed PJM Interconnection—which operates the nation’s largest electric grid across all or parts of 13 Mid-Atlantic and Midwest states and the District of Columbia—to develop clearer, more transparent rules for serving rapidly growing AI data centers and co-located generation, as the region faces mounting grid-reliability and capacity constraints. FERC Chair Laura Swett said PJM’s recent 6.6-gigawatt supply shortfall in its capacity auction was “concerning,” and the order makes clear that existing power plants cannot shift service to new data center loads unless upgrades are in place to protect reliability. The action builds on a February FERC proceeding questioning whether PJM’s rules governing co-located generation and large customers are just and reasonable, citing unclear rates, terms, and conditions. At the state level, officials in West Virginia are facing backlash over a new law signed by Gov. Patrick Morrisey (R) that limits local authority over data center siting and redirects much of the associated tax revenue to the state, while Massachusetts regulators have launched an investigation into electricity and gas bill volatility and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has moved to assert state authority over AI regulation. Industry headwinds are also becoming more visible, as Oracle is reportedly delaying completion timelines for certain OpenAI-related data centers due to labor and material shortages, and protests and investor hesitation surrounding a proposed OpenAI-Oracle project in Michigan have underscored how energy supply, community opposition, and financing risk are increasingly shaping the data center construction landscape.

• Last Thursday, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is barred from including a project labor agreement (PLA) requirement in a procurement for the construction of a pump station to mitigate hurricane damage in Louisiana, worth between $250 million and $500 million.

• MCAA members operating in Texas, Oregon, and Washington should be aware of recent EPA actions advancing major water and wastewater infrastructure projects through the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program. Last week, the EPA approved more than $590 million in WIFIA-backed financing, including a $347 million low-interest loan for Fort Worth, Texas to upgrade wastewater collection and treatment systems and construct a new Mary’s Creek Water Reclamation Facility to support population growth and large-scale water reuse for industrial and irrigation purposes. The EPA also approved $240 million in WIFIA loans for projects in Oregon and Washington, including $147 million for Medford, Oregon to improve water infrastructure and protect water quality in the Rogue River, a $65 million loan for King County, Washington to replace and construct new wastewater system components and pipeline infrastructure, and $28 million for Rockwood, Oregon’s Cascade Groundwater Development Project.
  
• MCAA members in Michigan should be aware that last Wednesday, a federal judge ruled that Michigan lacks authority to interfere with Enbridge Energy’s Line 5 pipeline, barring the state from enforcing its 2020 notice revoking a decades-old easement and ordering operations to cease. U.S. District Judge Robert J. Jonker said regulation of Line 5 falls under federal authority and that Michigan’s attempt to shut down the pipeline conflicts with U.S. foreign policy and trade relations with Canada.
  
• MCAA members in Washington State should be aware that last Wednesday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright issued an emergency order directing TransAlta to keep Unit 2 of the Centralia Generating Station coal plant in Centralia, Washington, available to operate through the winter, delaying its scheduled shutdown at the end of 2025. The order, which runs from December 16 through March 16, 2026, cites elevated grid reliability risks in the WECC Northwest region and aims to minimize the likelihood and cost of blackouts during periods of extreme cold.

• With the Energy Department advancing plans to co-locate nuclear reactors and artificial intelligence (AI) data centers on federal land through public-private partnerships, the Trump Administration is leaning on advanced and modular nuclear reactors as a way to meet rapidly growing power demand from AI while supporting domestic nuclear deployment. DOE has identified several federal sites—including Idaho National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Paducah, and Savannah River—and aims to begin construction as early as late 2025, with operations targeted for 2027, arguing that federal land can help streamline permitting and deployment. Major technology firms such as Anthropic, Nvidia, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Meta have increasingly turned to nuclear energy as a potential answer to their emissions-reduction goals while still securing reliable, around-the-clock power for AI-driven data centers.

The MCAA Government Affairs Update will be taking a break while the House and Senate are on holiday recess. Watch for our next report on January 12, 2026.

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, December 15, 2025 MCAA Lobbying Firm, Longbow Public Policy Group provided the following information:

Trump Administration

• As inflation and affordability remain a top concern for voters heading into the 2026 midterms, last week President Trump was in Pennsylvania speaking about those issues. He surprised many when he declined to use the opportunity to reconsider his messaging and once again dismissed concerns about “affordability” as a Democratic “hoax,” even as he insisted he has “no higher priority than making America affordable again.” President Trump displayed a chart comparing the Biden-era and Trump-era prices on select products,  insisted that his tariffs are strengthening key U.S. industries, and urged Americans to buy fewer imported consumer goods. Reprising talking points from the 2024 election, President Trump said, “You don’t need 37 dolls for your daughter.” The President’s comments come as a new poll from Politico shows that 55% of respondents hold him responsible for higher prices, while only 27% blame the Biden Administration. And a new AP-NORC poll finds voters’ approval of President Trump’s handling of the economy falling to a new low of 31%.

• MCAA plan trustees need to be aware and monitor implementation of an executive order President Trump signed last Thursday night to revise ERISA regulations governing ERISA plan fiduciary status and the obligations of such fiduciaries. Specifically, the order directs the Secretary of Labor to “revise all regulations and guidance regarding the fiduciary status of individuals who manage, or, like proxy advisors, advise those who manage, the rights appurtenant to shares held by plans covered under [ERISA],” including “proxy votes and corporate engagement, consistent with the policy of this order.” Among other things, the Secretary of Labor “shall consider whether these proposed revisions should include amendments to specify that any individual who has a relationship of trust and confidence with their client, including any proxy advisor, and who provides advice for a fee or other compensation, direct or indirect, with respect to the exercise of the rights appurtenant to shares held by ERISA plans, is an investment advice fiduciary under ERISA.” Generally, DOL is directed to strengthen ERISA fiduciary rules to increase fiduciaries’ transparency regarding their use of proxy advisors and ensure proxy advisors and plan managers act solely in the financial interest of American workers and retirees. The order also directs the Chairman of the SEC to rescind or revise all rules and regulations related to proxy-advisors that implicate DEI and ESG priorities, as well as rules related to shareholder proxy proposals that are inconsistent with the policies in the order. The order further directs the SEC to enforce anti-fraud provisions in securities laws against proxy advisors with respect to their voting recommendations, and to consider requiring proxy advisors to register as investment advisers and provide increased transparency on conflicts of interest. The SEC is also directed to assess whether proxy advisors serve as a vehicle for investment advisers to coordinate their voting decisions, and whether registered investment advisers breach their fiduciary duties by hiring proxy advisors to advise on non-pecuniary factors—such as DEI and ESG—in making investment decisions and subsequently following their recommendations. Finally, the order directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to determine whether proxy advisors are engaged in unfair methods of competition or unfair or deceptive acts or practices and to review ongoing state antitrust investigations into proxy advisors for violations of federal antitrust law.

• Last Thursday night, President Trump also signed an executive order to prevent states from regulating artificial intelligence (AI), including AI in the workplace, to ensure consistent, nationwide, federal regulation of this emerging technology instead of a patchwork of varying state laws the President fears could impede the deployment of AI technologies. The order directs the Attorney General to establish an AI Litigation Task Force to challenge unconstitutional, preempted, or otherwise unlawful state AI laws that harm innovation. The order directs the Secretary of Commerce to publish an evaluation of state AI laws that conflict with national AI policy priorities and withhold non-deployment Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) funding from any state with such AI laws. Other agencies are directed to consider whether to make an absence of similar laws, or a policy of enforcement discretion with respect to any existing such laws, a condition of applicable discretionary grant programs. The order also instructs the FTC and Federal Communications Commission to take actions to limit the ability of states to force companies to embed DEI into their AI models. The order further calls for the development of a national AI legislative framework that would preempt state AI laws that stifle innovation.

• As the MCAA continues engaging on the implementation of the ADVANCE Act we helped get signed into law last year to speed licensing of nuclear facilities, we are pleased to report that on Monday, while speaking at the Idaho National Lab, Energy Secretary Wright announced the Department of Energy’s goal to expand America’s nuclear energy capacity four-fold over the next 25 years—from the current 100 gigawatts to 400 gigawatts by 2050. To make this happen, the Energy Department is providing $11 million in funding—split between five corporations—to create new, updated packages to transport high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) to bolster America’s nuclear supply chain and ensure U.S. nuclear reactors can access HALEU fuel. Secretary Wright’s announcement comes as private sector interest in nuclear power continues to grow. For example, this week NextEra and Google announced plans to reopen the Duane Arnold nuclear plant in Iowa by 2029 to support Google’s expanding data center footprint, while Brookfield Asset Management has offered $2.7 billion to revive South Carolina’s long-stalled V.C. Summer nuclear project, though the proposal faces significant regulatory, technical, and negotiating hurdles.

• As MCAA continues working with the Administration and allies in Congress on permitting reform, last Thursday, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Air and Radiation (OAR) launched the “Clean Air Act Resource for Data Centers” webpage to provide state and private sector entities developing data centers and artificial intelligence (AI) facilities with regulatory information, guidance, and technical tools for modeling, air quality permitting, and regulatory interpretations under the Clean Air Act. The webpage has three sections: (1) “Regulatory Resources,” providing information on rules that apply to stationary combustion turbines and stationary engines; (2) “Air Permitting Resources,” with EPA guidance documents, letters responding to permitting requests, and interpretations of permitting regulations; and (3) “Modeling Guidance Documents,” listing the agency’s preferred air quality models for use in the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) programs and providing modeling resources to assist with permit applications and showing compliance.

• Last Wednesday, the Trump Administration continued to attack what it deems unlawful diversity, equity, and inclusion as the Justice Department finalized a rule eliminating “disparate impact” liability from its Title VI civil rights enforcement framework, shifting DOJ policy to require proof of intentional discrimination rather than allowing discriminatory intent to be inferred based on statistically uneven outcomes. Attorney General Bondi said the change ends decades of regulations that “required recipients of federal funding to make decisions based on race,” echoing President Trump’s April 23, 2025, Executive Order “Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy” that instructed federal agencies to abandon disparate impact analysis in the enforcement of civil rights laws.

• Last Wednesday, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued seven new letters of interpretation providing clarification on key workplace safety rules. Among the updates, OSHA clarified that under the “confined spaces” regulations at 29 CFR 1910.146(d)(3)(iii), employers are only required to isolate utilities in permit-required confined spaces if there’s a potential risk of leaks and ruptures. For example, if the piping does not terminate within the confined space and poses no risk of material release, isolation is not necessary. In another update, OSHA confirmed that bellow valves, leak-proof, and double-seal valves are acceptable engineering controls under the Benzene and 1,3-Butadiene standards at 29 CFR 1910.1028 and 29 CFR 1910.1051 to limit worker exposure to hazardous substances, noting that conventional valves are also considered acceptable as long as they help maintain exposure levels below permissible limits.

• MCAA members who work on water treatment plants and oil well systems should be aware that last Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and several other federal agencies and international partners issued a new advisory urging immediate action by critical infrastructure organizations to mitigate the risk of being targeted by pro-Russia hacktivist groups. The agencies warn that these groups are “actively engaging in opportunistic, low-sophistication malicious cyber activity across multiple sectors,” and specifically note that targets include water treatment plants and oil well systems.

• During oral arguments last Monday, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority sounded inclined to uphold President Trump’s firing of Democratic Federal Trade Commission Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter and potentially overturn Humphrey’s Executor, the 1935 precedent that shields leaders of independent federal agencies from being terminated by the President without cause. Conservative justices suggested that modern federal agencies wield far more power than when the precedent was created, while the court’s liberals warned that reversing Humphrey’s Executor would give the president “massive, unchecked” control over regulatory bodies across finance, labor, and public safety. The case will also impact President Trump’s firing of other independent agency heads, including the termination without cause of Democratic members of the National Labor Relations Board.

Congress

• Last Thursday, the Senate voted 52-47 to adopt a block of 97 Trump Administration nominees using the new process to confirm nominees in blocks instead of individually. A final vote to confirm the nominees is expected early this week. The new package includes nominations of great interest to MCAA, including both James Murphy and Scott Mayer to be members of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and Crystal Carey to be NLRB General Counsel. Once Murphy and Mayer are sworn in, the NLRB will regain its quorum and be able to start issuing opinions immediately. The package also includes: (1) Henry Mack to be DOL Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training (which oversees registered apprenticeship, workforce training, and DOL’s foreign guestworker programs); (2) Rosario Palmieri to be DOL Assistant Secretary for Policy; (3) former Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY) to be DOL Inspector General; (4) Jeffrey Hall to be EPA Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance; (5) Douglas Troutman to be EPA Assistant Administrator for Toxic Substances; (6) Mitch Graves, Jeff Hagood, Randall Jones, and Arthur Graham to be TVA Board Members; (7) James Percival to be General Counsel of the Department of Homeland Security; and (8) Edward Forst to be GSA Administrator.

• Last week, the MCAA made considerable progress on its priority issue of permitting reform after successfully lobbying the House Rules Committee to schedule a markup of the MCAA-advocated Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act (H.R. 4776) for today, December 15, 2025. The SPEED Act represents sweeping permitting reform that will improve federal permitting of data centers and other large infrastructure projects and reduce litigation that impedes such projects. Ahead of expected floor action, the bill is facing opposition from both ends of the political spectrum. A handful of Republicans, including Reps. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ), Chris Smith (R-NJ), and Andy Harris (R-MD), are urging President Trump to oppose the SPEED Act because they are afraid that permit protection language in the bill could inadvertently preserve offshore wind projects the Trump Administration is trying to kill. Democrats say their support hinges on limiting the Trump Administration’s ability to cancel wind, solar, and other renewable energy projects and Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV) offered an amendment to the SPEED Act requiring the Interior Department to treat all energy sources equally and prohibiting additional layers of review or the withholding, delaying, or reversing of state or local decisions for reasons not applied to oil, gas, or coal. A new National Petroleum Council report likewise warns the Trump Administration cannot advance fossil-fuel permitting reform while halting previously permitted renewable energy projects. Meanwhile, the House passed two modest permitting reform bills last week: (1) the Improving Interagency Coordination for Pipeline Reviews Act (H.R. 3668) by a vote of 213-184, which specifies timelines and procedures for FERC and other federal agencies to follow when conducting environmental reviews of natural gas pipelines and exempts interstate natural gas pipeline projects from the requirement to obtain water quality certifications from states under section 401 of the Clean Water Act (CWA); and (2) the Promoting Efficient Review for Modern Infrastructure Today (PERMIT) Act (H.R. 3898) by a vote of 221-205, which streamlines CWA permitting by redefining “navigable waters of the United States” to exclude waste treatment systems, prior converted cropland, groundwater, and other features determined to be excluded by the Army Corps of Engineers.

• As the expiration of enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies looms at the end of this year, lawmakers remain far apart on how to address an issue that is top of mind for voters heading into the 2026 midterms. Last Thursday, the Senate held votes on two partisan health care bills that both required 60 votes to overcome procedural objections. First, the chamber voted 51-48 to reject a Republican proposal to let the enhanced ACA subsidies expire and replace them with new, time-limited health savings account payments for enrollees who switch to lower-cost, high-deductible bronze or catastrophic plans. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) was the only Republican to vote with Democrats against the bill. Senators also voted 51-48 to reject a Democratic proposal to extend the enhanced ACA subsidies for three years. GOP Sens. Susan Collins (ME), Josh Hawley (MO), Lisa Murkowski (AK), and Dan Sullivan (AK) joined Democrats in supporting this bill. The votes come as House Republican leadership said they will allow a vote next week on a GOP package of health care bills that does not include an extension of expiring enhanced ACA premium subsidies, but instead offers a package of policies ranging from expanded Health Savings Accounts and stricter oversight of pharmacy benefit managers to enhance “Price Transparency.” House GOP moderates are pushing a discharge petition to force a vote on a bill extending the enhanced ACA subsidies for two years, while some more conservative Republicans are focused on including new abortion-coverage restrictions—leaving the conference with no clear consensus on a path forward. The looming expiration of the subsidies comes as a new poll from Gallup shows that 57% of Americans approve of the ACA, while only 35% disapprove. Support varies depending on respondents’ political affiliation, with approval of the ACA ranging from 91% of Democrats to 63% of independents and only 15% of Republicans. Separately, a New York Federal Reserve survey this week found that U.S. households grew more pessimistic about their current and near-term financial situations last month, with many concerned about increased medical expenses, which jumped 10.1%—the highest in more than a decade.

• Last Wednesday, the House voted 312-112 to pass the 3,100-page compromise text of the fiscal year (FY) 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Of interest for the MCAA, the final bill authorizes $26 billion for shipbuilding, including for Virginia class attack submarines and authorizes funding to build additional Coast Guard cutters. Also of interest to MCAA, the final bill excluded Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) “Right-to-Repair” language supported by the Trump Pentagon to ensure the U.S. military retains access to data and parts necessary to repair its weapons systems. The final bill text also excluded the bipartisan Road to Housing Act that was in the Senate version of the NDAA to speed construction of multifamily housing and to address housing affordability.

• There were a couple of developments last week in races for the U.S. Senate. In Ohio, a new poll shows incumbent Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) and former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) in a statistical dead heat, with Husted receiving 49% support, compared to 46% support for Brown. In Texas, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) launched a Democratic primary bid to take on incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn.

• There were several developments last week in races for the House. In Indiana, the state Senate rejected President Trump’s demand for mid-decade redistricting, voting 31–19 against a map Republicans in the Indiana House developed that would flip the state’s two Democratic congressional seats. In Texas, former Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX) left the Texas Senate race to run in the newly redrawn 33^rd Congressional District, while Rep. Marc Veasey (D) opted not to seek re-election in that district and instead run for Tarrant County judge. The Cook Political Report shifted Rep. Henry Cuellar’s (D) race from “Toss Up” to “Leans Democrat,” saying President Trump’s pardon of Cuellar “compromised his party’s ability to flip one competitive seat.” In New York, progressive New York City Comptroller Brad Lander (D) announced a primary challenge against Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) in the 10^th Congressional District. In Virginia, former Rep. Tom Perriello (D) launched a challenge to Rep. John McGuire (R) in the 5^th Congressional District. In Maryland, former Rep. David Trone (D) is mounting a primary challenge in Maryland’s 6^th Congressional District against first-term Rep. April McClain Delaney (D). And in North Carolina, Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam (D) launched a progressive primary challenge against Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-NC) in North Carolina’s 4^th Congressional District. These developments come as the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee added five seats to its battleground target list: (1) Rep. Darrell Issa’s (R) seat in California’s 48^th Congressional District; (2) Rep. Laurel Lee’s (R) seat in Florida’s 15^th Congressional District; (3) Rep. Greg Murphy’s (R) seat in North Carolina’s 3^rd Congressional District; (4) Rep. Chuck Edwards’ (R) seat in North Carolina’s 11^th Congressional District; and (5) Rep. Greg Casar’s (D) seat in Texas’ 35^th Congressional District, which became more GOP leaning in redistricting.

Around the Country

• MCAA members working in the Washington, D.C. metro area may be interested to know that last Friday, the National Historic Trust, which is charged by Congress with historic preservation, filed a lawsuit to halt President Trump’s construction of a 95,000 square foot ballroom at the site of the recently-demolished White House East Wing annex. The Trust is represented by Greg Craig, who served in the Obama and Clinton Administrations. In the lawsuit, the Trust claims the President cannot proceed with the project without its review and approval.

• As the MCAA continues to engage the Labor Department on our priority issue of preventing the misclassification of construction workers as independent contractors, we learned last Wednesday that the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division recovered $596,000 in back wages and fringe benefits for 31 workers after finding that Maryland subcontractor J. Solano HVAC ran a kickback scheme on two D.C.-funded affordable housing projects. Investigators determined the company paid workers the required Davis-Bacon prevailing wage by check but then forced them to return any amount above $30/hour, while also misclassifying some workers as lower-skilled laborers to avoid paying higher hourly rates for HVAC technicians and plumbers. Because the violations were deemed willful, DOL debarred the company and its owner from federal contracting for three years.

• MCAA members operating in Michigan should be aware that last Tuesday, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Ranking Member Gary Peters (D-MI) requested the Defense Department (DOD) Inspector General investigate significant delays to DOD’s cleanup efforts of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) at military installations nationwide, including six military bases in Michigan. Peters requested a review of the factors DOD considered in delaying cleanup timelines (including staffing and resource constraints), an assessment of whether DOD evaluated the impacts on local communities, and whether DOD took any steps to communicate with affected communities prior to releasing the revised schedules delaying cleanup efforts.

• MCAA members operating in Alabama should be aware that last Tuesday, Eli Lilly announced plans to spend $6 billion to build a manufacturing plant in Huntsville, Alabama to help boost production of its closely watched experimental obesity pill orforglipron and other drugs. The company said it expects construction of the Alabama plant, which is set to start this year and be completed in 2032, to create 3,000 construction jobs.

• MCAA members operating in Minnesota should be aware that last Tuesday, the General Services Administration (GSA) awarded a $105 million Design-Build Construction contract to McGough Construction for design and construction of the Land Port of Entry Project in Grand Portage, MN, located on the Grand Portage Indian Reservation and serving passenger and commercial traffic between northeastern Minnesota and Ontario, Canada. Construction is expected to begin next summer, and the project will replace 1960s-era facilities across the 10.4-acre port with new, modernized buildings designed to improve security, efficiency, and processing capacity. The project will also add lanes—including a wider commercial truck lane—to reduce congestion and expand trade. GSA said that it expects substantial completion of the project by fall/winter 2029. Additional information about the project is available here.