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MCAA Government Affairs Update for the Week of October 27, 2025: The Latest Developments Impacting Our Industry

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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, October 27, 2025 MCAA Lobbying Firm, Longbow Public Policy Group provided the following information:

Trump Administration

  • Last Friday, it was revealed that the Trump Administration is preparing a new offshore drilling proposal that would open nearly all U.S. coastal waters to oil and gas leasing from 2026 to 2031. The draft plan, developed by the Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, outlines potential lease sales along the Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic, and Gulf coasts, signaling a significant expansion beyond the long-developed portions of the Gulf of America. The proposal represents the first step in replacing the Biden-era oil and gas leasing program, under which just three lease sales were scheduled through 2029. While the plan could be revised before publication, it aligns with the Trump Administration’s broader strategy to boost domestic energy production pursuant to Trump’s January 20, 2025 Executive Order 14156, “Declaring a National Energy Emergency.”
  • Also last Friday, President Trump selected Laura Swett as the next Chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Swett was confirmed by the Senate as a member of FERC on October 7, 2025 for a term expiring on June 30, 2030. She previously served at FERC advising a former Chairman and Commissioner, and as a lead attorney in FERC’s Office of Enforcement.
  • Last Thursday, MCAA’s Washington, DC team served as a non-participant observer to the Energy Department’s introductory meeting regarding voluntary Defense Production Act (DPA) agreements with a consortium of domestic nuclear energy companies to facilitate an increase in the production and availability of nuclear energy in response to President Trump’s May 23, 2025 Executive Order (EO) 14302 “Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base.” The EO emphasized that the United States currently faces a variety of serious nuclear energy-related challenges ultimately affecting national security and preparedness, prompting this DPA working group.

    The meeting was an introduction for invited DPA consortium members and was followed by a series of closed meetings between representatives from consortium members and DOE, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and Department of Justice (DOJ). During the open public meeting, DOE announced that it has made the draft version of the DPA Voluntary Agreement available on regulations.gov in advance of its publication in the Federal Register next month to gather public comments. Industry participants in this DPA working group must be approved and sign the final DPA voluntary agreement. Pursuant to Section 708 of the DPA, participants in this working group are provided with immunity for liability for collaboration and information sharing that might otherwise result in claims for violations of federal or state antitrust laws. This liability shield is intended to ensure DPA consortium members are free to work with the government and other companies to collaborate and address a national security priority.

    Under the terms and conditions of the Draft DPA Voluntary Agreement, the Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy would serve as the consortium’s Chair, while the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Fuel Cycle would serve as the Vice Chair. The consortium steering committee will consist of representatives from DOE, DOJ, the FTC, and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), including DOE’s Deputy Assistant Secretaries for Nuclear Reactors and High Level Waste and Disposition. The consortium will have seven committees consisting of a DOE official, representatives from DOJ, the FTC, and NNSA, and industry participants that have “substantive capabilities, resources or expertise,” to facilitate necessary actions. Each committee will be charged with developing Plans of Action (POAs) to “bolster the domestic nuclear fuel cycle to enable the continued reliable operation of the Nation’s existing, and future, nuclear reactors.” Specifically, the seven committees will develop POAs for the following stages of the nuclear fuel cycle: (1) uranium mining and milling; (2) uranium conversion; (3) uranium deconversion; (4) uranium enrichment; (5) fuel fabrication; (6) spent nuclear fuel recycling and reprocessing; and (7) end-use. In determining committee members, the Chair will select consortium participants representative of the segment of the nuclear industry covered by the POA.
  • MCAA members that perform work for the Navy, operate in shipyards, or otherwise support the shipbuilding industry will be interested to know that last Wednesday the Pentagon sent a memo to Congress detailing how it plans to spend an initial $89.3 billion installment of defense funding authorized by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. In following up to learn more about the spending outline and how it may generate work for MCAA members, we learned that it directs $17.7 billion for shipbuilding covering construction of new naval vessels and to fund workforce development programs to train workers to build more ships. The naval construction plan includes two guided-missile destroyers, a Virginia-class submarine, and three T-AO oilers. The Pentagon memo also includes $2.5 billion to modernize unspecified Air Force facilities and $1.8 billion for improvements to troop barracks and military housing. These plans for more shipbuilding come ahead of a hearing scheduled for this Tuesday, October 28th in the Senate Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Coast Guard, Maritime, and Fisheries on “Sea Change: Reviving Commercial Shipbuilding.” The hearing will examine how to modernize and accelerate U.S. commercial shipbuilding and strengthen America’s broader maritime industrial base.

Congress

  • As the government shutdown heads into its fourth week, congressional leaders are exploring longer-term funding options and potential changes to the Senate filibuster. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) last week acknowledged that lawmakers may need to pass a longer continuing resolution (CR)—which would require the House to return to D.C. Among the options Republican leaders are considering are CRs extending funding through December 2025, January 2026, or even September 2026. Congressional appropriators are pushing for a shorter extension because they want to finalize appropriations bills that allow them to fund new priorities, and pass funding for member-directed projects (a.k.a. “earmarks”) that would not be part of a CR. Meanwhile, GOP leaders are quietly discussing scaled-back ACA subsidy extensions with income caps to help vulnerable House Republicans, while contending with a rising trickle of calls to eliminate the Senate filibuster for government funding bills. The calls for filibuster reform are now bipartisan as Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) and Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) both urged Leader Thune to take this step, but Thune is a longstanding opponent of altering the filibuster outside the context of confirming Presidential nominees. As this week begins, everyone is watching to see if either party will blink as pressure to reopen the government mounts after federal employees missed another paycheck last Friday and ahead of a looming deadline to pay the military this Friday (October 31st). Some members are also facing pressure from a growing number of states announcing that their SNAP food assistance programs will end on Friday and as open enrollment begins for insurance on Affordable Care Act Exchanges with higher prices reflecting that Congress has not yet extended ACA premium subsidies set to expire at the end of the year. There is also the “wildcard” of growing airport delays and cancellations.
  • Last Wednesday, the MCAA attended the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee’s second labor law reform hearing entitled, Labor Law Reform Part 2: New Solutions for Finding a Pro-Worker Way Forward during which lawmakers debated the future of collective bargaining, worker choice, and union accountability. HELP Chair Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Republican witnesses such as Thomas Beck of management law firm Littler Mendelson and Vincent Vernuccio of the conservative Institute for the American Worker argued for more disclosure of how unions spend dues—particularly on political activities—and for “worker choice” by mandating secret-ballot elections and outlawing neutrality agreements while also limiting what they called “frivolous” unfair labor practice charges. Chairman Cassidy and Sen. Ashley Moody (R-FL) also focused on making it easier for union members to get back the portion of their union dues used to support political causes with which they don’t agree. GOP witness Jonathan Hartley, a Stanford graduate student, detailed his experience of being required to join a union whose dues funded political activity he opposed. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) discussed Boeing cutting workers’ healthcare during an ongoing strike at its St. Louis facility.

    Democrats argued that the real challenge workers face is corporate resistance to unions and the willingness of companies to commit unfair labor practices that suppress unionization because of the modest penalties associated with doing so. HELP Committee Ranking Member Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and other committee Democrats—including Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Ed Markey (D-MA), and John Hickenlooper (D-CO)—advocated for passage of the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. They said the bill is vital to restore collective bargaining rights and hold employers accountable. Witnesses Mary Turner of National Nurses United and IAM shop steward Joshua Arnold described how employers fail to negotiate fair contracts—citing Boeing’s stalled talks with machinists—and endorsed stronger bargaining protections, fair contract standards, and apprenticeship programs that provide hands-on training for skilled union labor. Democrats also highlighted the need for pro-worker reforms to safeguard healthcare benefits and workplace rights during strikes.
  • Last Tuesday, the MCAA team attended the Senate Commerce Committee’s markup of the MCAA-endorsed “PIPELINE Safety Act” (S. 2975) which was approved by unanimous voice vote and now goes to the full Senate. The bill provides a 5-year, $1.65 billion reauthorization of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). MCAA has been lobbying in support of this legislation and sent a formal letter of endorsement to the Committee last week in anticipation of the markup. MCAA praised the bill’s provisions to strengthen the nation’s energy infrastructure and enhance worker and community safety, as well as its focus on emerging fuels and energy transition technologies. MCAA specifically cited the bill’s requirements for studies and potential rulemakings related to hydrogen blending and carbon dioxide pipelines, the reauthorization of PHMSA’s grant programs, and the creation of dedicated Natural Gas Distribution Infrastructure Safety and Modernization funding that will support good-paying, skilled jobs in the mechanical and construction industries. The Committee’s markup and approval of S. 2975 moved quickly, reflecting the strong bipartisan support for the legislation. Prior to its passage, the Committee adopted by voice vote a manager’s amendment offered by Chairman Cruz (R-TX) and Ranking Member Cantwell (D-WA). Among other things, it added a provision generally setting a 180-day timeline for granting pipeline operators nonemergency waivers from compliance with federal pipeline safety regulations. The Committee also adopted by voice vote an amendment from Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) requiring PHMSA to expand a mandated report to Congress on the effects of weather on the safety of natural gas pipeline facilities to specifically include the February 2021 Winter Storm Uri and the December 2022 Winter Storm Elliot. It requires that within 90 days after the report is submitted, PHMSA review the distribution integrity management plans of pipelines that are at increased risk of applicable weather events to ensure that the owners and operators of those pipelines are mitigating those effects to ensure public safety.
  • Last Monday, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chair Bill Cassidy (R-LA) sent a letter to Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer supporting the Labor Department’s plans to replace the Biden-era, MCAA-supported final rule on “Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights” (Prudence and Loyalty Rule). This rule replaced a regulation from President Trump’s first term called the Financial Factors in Selecting Plan Investments rule that the MCAA and its allies in the National Coordinating Committee on Multiemployer Plans (NCCMP) opposed because it eliminated clear, longstanding procedures for fiduciaries to follow when selecting plan investments and imposed new, vague standards threatening increased legal uncertainty for plan trustees. During the last Administration, MCAA and its allies successfully lobbied to rescind the Trump-era Financial Factors rule and replace it with the Prudence and Loyalty Rule, returning to the clearer standards for plan fiduciaries to use when selecting plan investments. This rule also clarified that it is legitimate for trustees to select from equivalent investments based on whether they create work for plan participants that generate contributions to the plan. In his letter the Labor Secretary, Chairman Cassidy inaccurately characterized the Prudence and Loyalty Rule as allowing fiduciaries to “choose investments or exercise shareholder rights based on subjective, unprovable factors to further an ideological agenda.” Chairman Cassidy also issued a press release on his letter, highlighting his longstanding efforts to prevent the consideration of ESG factors in investment decisions related to retirement assets.

Around the Country

  • As the MCAA continues advocating for permitting reform to accelerate construction of data centers and other large-scale projects, new private-sector projects were announced last week even as federal permitting reform legislation remains stalled with the House having adjourned during the shutdown. Last Wednesday, Applied Digital announced it had signed a $5 billion, 15-year infrastructure lease agreement with an unnamed U.S. hyperscaler to deliver 200 megawatts of capacity at its Polaris Forge 2 campus in North Dakota. The agreement—following a separate $5 billion funding commitment from Macquarie Asset Management earlier this month—brings the company’s total leased capacity to 600 megawatts across its two Polaris Forge campuses. Also last Wednesday, Soluna Holdings announced plans for a new data center in Willacy County, Texas that will be powered by wind energy and designed as a “flexible-load” facility capable of adjusting power use based on grid conditions. These project announcements come as new polling finds mounting public concern over AI’s environmental toll. Nearly four in ten Americans say they are highly worried about AI’s impact on the planet. The survey also revealed that people are more concerned about the environmental impact of AI and related data centers than they are about the environmental impacts of meat production, air travel, or cryptocurrency mining. Public concern seems to focus on the massive energy and water demands of the AI industry, and the fact that data centers are often powered by fossil fuels like natural gas. This is prompting concerns that the rise of AI infrastructure will accelerate climate change, especially as some major tech firms scale back their carbon emission reduction goals.
  • MCAA member companies may want look at Clayco’s second annual mental health survey released last week showing that more than one in five construction executives admit they are less likely to assign important tasks to workers who disclose mental health concerns. The survey, which included responses from over 1,000 industry leaders across the U.S., also found that 30% of executives said such employees are more closely monitored. The survey also highlights a worsening mental health crisis in the construction industry overall, with 64% of workers reporting anxiety or depression in the past year—up from 54% in 2024. While 80% of executives claim their organizations offer mental health support, only 61% of workers believe those services are actually available. More than a third of workers reported discrimination after seeking help, and 45% said they feel ashamed discussing mental health on the job.
  • Last Tuesday, the Energy Department (DOE) issued a solicitation to purchase one million barrels of U.S. produced sour crude oil for delivery to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) at the Bryan Mound site in Brazoria County, Texas between December 1, 2025 and January 31, 2026. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act appropriated $171 million to begin refilling the SPR, which currently holds just over 400 million barrels of its 700 million barrel capacity. Bids for the solicitation are due by 11am CT on October 28, 2025.
  • Last Tuesday the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued three Underground Injection Control (UIC) Class VI permits to ExxonMobil for a project in Jefferson County, Texas that will convert three existing test wells to carbon dioxide storage injection wells for long-term storage. The permits allow ExxonMobil to inject an average of 1.1 to 1.67 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year into each well, with a maximum total of 5 million metric tons per year across all three injection wells. Over the 13-year injection period, ExxonMobil would be allowed to inject a maximum of 53 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.
  • Given the MCAA’s successful efforts to retain tax credits for carbon capture and sequestration in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, we wanted to be sure that MCAA members operating in Indiana were aware that last Tuesday the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) opened public comments, until December 8, 2025, on a draft carbon storage permit from One Carbon Partnership for carbon sequestration at the Cardinal Ethanol Facility in Randolph County, Indiana. Under the proposed plan, One Carbon Partnership would be permitted to inject up to 450,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year for 30 years. The deep formation where the injected carbon would be permanently stored is between 3,100 and 3,659 feet beneath the surface and is protected by a 487-foot-thick confining zone composed of caprock, preventing carbon from migrating upward into underground sources of drinking water. The EPA will host a public hearing related to this permit at the Winchester Community High School Commons, 700 N Union Street, Winchester, Indiana 47394 on December 4, 2025 from 5:30pm to 9pm. There is no stated requirement to pre-register in order to attend the meeting.
  • MCAA members operating in Michigan should be aware that on October 16th, Michigan sued the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in the U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C. over a DOE order extending the life of a coal plant in West Olive, MI that was due for retirement. DOE issued an emergency order on August 20, 2025 to keep the J.H. Campbell plant open in response to concerns over electric grid strains. Michigan’s lawsuit alleges that the August order is based on a fabricated energy emergency and disregards prior regulatory approvals for the plant’s planned retirement. The state also claims the order imposes unnecessary costs on Michigan ratepayers and exceeds DOE’s authority under the Federal Power Act. This case could set a national precedent if it undermines the power of the Trump Energy Department to stop states from closing coal-fired power plants to maintain their power generation on the grid.
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