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MCAA Government Affairs Update for the Week of September 15, 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, September 15, 2025 MCAA Lobbying Firm, Longbow Public Policy Group provided the following information:

Trump Administration

  • Following the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) announcement on September 5th that it was vacating the Biden-era non-compete clause final rule and dropping its appeal defending the rule, last Wednesday the FTC requested comments on a proposed consent decree in the first enforcement action by the Trump-appointed FTC against a company’s use of non-compete agreements. The MCAA advocacy team put together a policy overview of this FTC consent decree, which is available here. The consent decree charges Gateway, the largest pet cremation services company in the U.S., with violating section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act by requiring all newly hired employees to sign a 12-month post-employment non-compete agreement, which the FTC found to be an unfair method of competition. With the consent decree, the FTC also published a statement from FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson outlining the Trump FTC’s approach to assessing non-compete agreements under the common law “rule of reason” inquiry applied by state courts when assessing the lawfulness of non-compete agreements. This inquiry “focuses on whether the restriction is no greater than necessary to protect the employer’s legitimate interests and balances those interests against the hardship inflicted on the employee and any potential injury to the public.” Chair Ferguson was clear that “not all non-competes are unlawful,” noting that some promote competition, such as those that safeguard employer investments in worker training or those that allow business owners to sell their enterprise without having to worry about the seller immediately competing against them. The FTC also acknowledged that non-compete agreements may be lawful for a small number of discrete circumstances, but that companies bear the burden of proving the reasonableness of the terms of a noncompete. The FTC made clear that it will not issue another noncompete rule of general application but will instead undertake case-by-case enforcement of noncompetition agreements and other restrictive covenants that pose competition issues in the labor market. The FTC’s new position is likely to permit slightly more non-compete agreements of the type MCAA discussed in its April 2023 comments on the Biden-era rule but makes clear that employers will not have a free hand to impose non-competes “willy-nilly” and that they remain disfavored
  • As the MCAA continues to track developments related to President Trump’s tariffs, we wanted to be sure that MCAA members were aware that last Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a fast track appeal of the August appellate court ruling invalidating President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs imposed through the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The Court scheduled oral arguments in the case for November, and the justices are expected to issue a ruling by the end of the year. The Court’s decision comes after President Trump on September 5th signed an executive order (EO) offering tariff exemptions to U.S. trading partners who strike framework trade deals with the United States. In the EO, President Trump said that his willingness to reduce tariffs depends on the “scope and economic value of a trading partner’s commitments to the United States in its agreement on reciprocal trade” and U.S. national interests. The EO also identified more than 45 imported products (including aluminum ores, molybdenum ores, hydrogen, and iron oxide) that will be exempt from the President’s reciprocal tariffs, as well as separate duties imposed under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act that are not at issue in the litigation before the Supreme Court for nations that cut deals with the U.S. The exemptions took effect last Monday, September 8, 2025. 
  • Last week MCAA continued pressing the Administration for regulatory changes to advance federal permitting reform and was pleased that last Tuesday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released new guidance for New Source Review (NSR) permitting requirements that are intended to “provide much needed clarity for the buildout of essential power generation and the reshoring of manufacturing.” Under the new EPA guidance, entities will be able to begin certain building activities that are not related to air emissions, such as installing cement pads, prior to obtaining a Clean Air Act (CAA) construction permit. The CAA’s NSR program is a preconstruction permitting program that requires certain stationary sources to obtain permits prior to beginning construction. The NSR permitting program applies to both new construction and to modifications of existing sources. The EPA is also planning to propose and finalize a rule in 2026 revising the definition of “begin actual construction” in EPA’s NSR regulations to assist permitting authorities in properly distinguishing between emissions units and other parts of a stationary source facility that are not an emissions unit or part of an emissions unit and therefore are eligible to be constructed prior to the issuance of a CAA construction permit. This new guidance comes as the Energy Information Administration last Tuesday projected that U.S. power consumption will hit record highs in 2025 and 2026. Specifically, the EIA predicted that power demand will rise to 4,187 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in 2025 and 4,305 billion kWh in 2026, up from a record 4,097 billion kWh in 2024. Those demand increases come in part from data centers dedicated to artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency and as homes and businesses use more electricity and less fossil fuel for heat and transportation.
  • Last Tuesday, ahead of this week’s Federal Reserve Board of Governor’s meeting to set interest rates, a federal judge temporarily blocked President Trump’s removal of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. The Trump Administration has already appealed the decision in hopes of preventing Cook from participating in this week’s Fed meeting. This battle over the President’s termination of Fed Governor Cook for getting lower mortgage rates by claiming more than one primary residence on her loan application became much more relevant to MCAA after ProPublica revealed that at least three current Trump Cabinet members in charge of matters MCAA cares a great deal about have allegedly done the same thing: (1) Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer; (2) Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy; and (3) EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. ProPublica, for example, documented that Labor Secretary Chavez-DeRemer and her husband Shawn, who has a business in Portland, Oregon, refinanced their longtime primary residence in Oregon in January 2021 and two months later bought a newly built house near a golf course in Fountain Hill, Arizona that they also claimed as their primary residence. It remains unclear what, if any, fallout will come from these revelations.
  • Last week, the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division and the Small Business Administration announced a construction industry public webinar tomorrow, September 16, 2025 from 10am to 11am ET to discuss common Davis-Bacon issues for small business employers. The webinar will cover several topics, including understanding wage determinations, certified payrolls, fringe benefits, and hours worked. Participants will be able to ask questions during the webinar through the Chat feature and will receive a real-time response. The session will not be recorded. Those wishing to participate in the webinar must register here. Details on how to access the webinar through Microsoft Teams will be transmitted following registration.

Congress

  • The chances of a government shutdown waxed and waned over the course of last week. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced that Senate Democrats will reject Republicans’ proposal for a “clean” short-term continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government after fiscal year (FY) 2025 ends on September 30th. Schumer also urged Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) to negotiate with Democrats to avoid a shutdown. For his part, House Minority Leader Hakeen Jeffries (D-NY) agreed with Schumer that a clean CR is “not the type of policy that actually meets the needs of the American people.” The statements from Schumer and Jeffries came as the Democratic leaders were under pressure from progressives like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Chris Murphy (D-CT), as well as New York Times columnist Ezra Klien, to play hardball on government funding and force President Trump to back away from his “authoritarian consolidation” of power. As funding discussions continued through the end of last week, Republican leadership announced plans to vote this Thursday to extend government funding until November 21st—the Friday before the Thanksgiving recess. Meanwhile, congressional Democrats coalesced around the extension of soon-to-expire Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium subsidies as the price for their votes to extend government funding beyond September 30th and avoid a shutdown. While there are vulnerable Republicans in competitive election races who support extending the ACA premium subsidies, some top Republican leaders in both chambers are opposed to including any such extension on this week’s stopgap funding bill. Moreover, many Republican fiscal conservatives oppose extending the enhanced subsidies, with House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-MD) announcing that his group opposes extending the subsidies, which he characterized as “free giveaways to insurance companies.” Legislators need to reach a deal this week because Congress is in recess next week and is not scheduled to return to session until September 29th—one day before government funding runs out.
  • Last Thursday, Senate Republicans pulled the trigger on the “nuclear option” to make it easier to confirm President Trump’s pending nominees. The Senate GOP passed a rule change that allows large batches of nominees to be confirmed in a single vote and began considering a resolution to confirm a single bloc of 48 nominees. Of particular interest to the MCAA, this bloc of nominees expected to be confirmed later this week includes: (1) Daniel Aronowitz to lead the Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration that enforces ERISA and oversees ERISA-governed multiemployer defined benefit and health plans; (2) Theodore Garrish to be the Energy Department’s Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy; (3) Kyle Haustveit to be Assistant Secretary of Energy for Fossil Energy; (4) Paul Roberti to lead the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration; (5) Jessica Kramer to be the Environmental Protection Administration’s Assistant Administrator for the Office of Water; (6) Conner Prochaska, to be Director of the Energy Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency; (7) Leslie Beyer to be the Interior Department’s Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management; and (8) Andrea Travnicek to be the Interior Department’s Assistant Secretary for Water and Science. Democratic Leader Schumer warned Republicans following last Thursday’s vote that they will “come to regret” their action.
  • The MCAA’s advocacy efforts to enact permitting reforms bore fruit last week as our lobbying resulted in the House Committee on Natural Resources holding a legislative hearing last Wednesday on three permitting reform bills, including H.R. 4776, the “Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act,” a bill overhauling the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) that the MCAA endorsed and urged the Committee to hold a hearing on when Congress returned from its August recess on September 2nd. The other two bills considered during the hearing were: (1) H.R. 573, the “Studying NEPA’s Impact on Projects Act,” to require annual reports on project permitting and related litigation delays and costs imposed by NEPA; and (2) H.R. 4503, the “ePermit Act,” to develop a standard electronic system to serve as a single portal for all federal permitting matters and related materials. During the hearing, there was broad bipartisan support for H.R. 573 and H.R. 4503, but Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-CA) came out in strong opposition to the more sweeping SPEED Act despite endorsements from the MCAA, LIUNA, the Coalition for Renewable Energy, and state and local government officials of both political parties. Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME), the original Democratic cosponsor of the SPEED Act, was the only Democrat to speak in favor of the bill. Reps. Seth Magaziner (D-RI) and Sarah Elfreth (D-MD) said they “wanted to get to yes” on the SPEED Act and agreed that NEPA reviews are too burdensome but said they could not do so until the Trump Administration paused its war on “renewable energy.” Rep. Magaziner and other Democrats also said they did not trust the Trump Administration to apply the permitting reforms in the SPEED Act to benefit all energy technologies given their persistent efforts to cancel wind and solar projects, including the almost completed Revolution Wind project, which is in Rep. Magaziner’s district. MCAA followed up with hesitant Democrats to address their concerns about implementation of the SPEED Act, but our forward progress was halted by statements Interior Secretary Doug Burgum made at the end of last week confirming Democrats’ fears when he said “[u]nder this administration, there is not a future for offshore wind.” Democrats took this as the clearest indication yet from a senior Trump Administration official that the President is intent on shutting down the U.S. offshore wind industry. MCAA and its allies are conferring on how to continue our progress on the SPEED Act in the face of this development.
  • Democrats’ displeasure with the Trump Administration’s attacks on renewable energy also curtailed their support for the normally bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) last week. Last Wednesday, the House voted 231-196 to pass its version of the FY 2026 NDAA, but only 17 Democrats supported the bill, while all but four Republicans backed it. Democrats argued that GOP proposals in the NDAA, including those restricting some renewable energy efforts, undermined the bipartisan nature of the bill produced by the House Armed Services Committee.
  • Last Monday, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) introduced the “Empowering Striking Workers Act,” legislation to provide unemployment insurance (UI) benefits to striking or locked out workers. The bill would allow workers to access UI benefits 14 days after the start of a strike. Additionally, workers would immediately be eligible for UI when there is an employer-initiated lockout, upon the hiring of replacement workers, or if a worker is out of a job following a work stoppage. Schiff introduced the bill last Congress when he was in the House, and this Congress, Rep. Donald Norcross (D-NJ) is the bill’s lead in that chamber. Schiff’s press release notes that several building trades unions endorsed the bill, including: (1) the MCAA’s labor partner—the UA; (2) the IBEW; (3) the Bricklayers; (4) the Operating Engineers; and (5) the United Brotherhood of Carpenters.

Across the Country

  • A new poll from Gallup released last Thursday indicates that there may be a better recruiting environment for registered apprenticeship programs and other career tracks that do not require a college degree. The poll finds that the perceived importance of a college education among Americans has dropped to a new low, continuing a downward trend of the last 15 years. The poll found that 35% of U.S. adults rate a college education as “very important,” while around 40% say that it is “fairly important,” and 24% say that it is “not too important.” This is a big drop from responses in 2019 when 53% of Americans asked about the importance of college said it was “very important,” in 2013 when 70% said the same, and in 2010 when 75% of U.S. adults felt that a college education was “very important.”
  • As we continue to engage both the Trump Administration and Congress on efforts to advance the build out of nuclear energy in the U.S., MCAA members should be aware that last Wednesday, Holtec International said the company might seek to restart operations at the shuttered Indian Point Nuclear Plant in Westchester County, New York at an estimated cost of $10 billion. But the company said reviving the 2,000 megawatt nuclear plant would require overcoming deep-seated opposition to nuclear power close to New York City. The company also cautioned that political as well as financial support would be needed from both New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) and the Trump Administration before it proceeds with efforts to restart the plant.
  • Given the MCAA’s successful efforts to retain tax credits for carbon capture and sequestration in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, we thought MCAA members would be interested to know that last Tuesday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requested public comments on its intent to issue a permit for Marquis Carbon Injection, LLC to inject and store carbon dioxide underground at an injection well in Putnam County, Illinois. Under the proposed plan, Marquis Carbon Injection would inject up to 1.5 million metric tons of carbon per year, over a period of six years. Marquis would be required to monitor the wells—during the six years of proposed injection and for twelve years afterwards—to ensure that the injection wells work properly, the carbon dioxide does not move from its injected location and drinking water sources are protected. Comments are due by November 3, 2025 and can be submitted through the federal eRulemaking portal here. EPA will also host a public availability session on October 15, 2025 from 6pm to 8pm ET at Putnam County High School, 400 East Silverspoon Ave., Granville, Illinois and a separate public hearing on October 29, 2025 from 6 pm to 8pm ET, also at Putnam County High School. There is no stated requirement to register to attend either the availability session or the public hearing. This request for comment was followed last Wednesday by the EPA announcing the approval of Arizona’s request to administer all classes of underground injection wells under the Safe Drinking Water Act’s (SDWA) Underground Injection Control (UIC) program. The EPA’s approval of Arizona’s UIC program primacy application will allow the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) to authorize underground injection for all underground injection wells under SDWA and ensure compliance with UIC program requirements. Notably, EPA’s final approval also includes state permitting for wells for underground storage of carbon dioxide. The EPA will oversee Arizona’s administration of its UIC program and will remain the permitting authority for all well classes on Indian lands within the state, except for wells on Navajo Indian lands for which EPA has granted the Navajo Nation primacy.
  • As the Administration continues its push to build out data centers and the power infrastructure they require, last Monday the Energy Department (DOE) announced that it is seeking proposals from U.S. companies to build and power artificial intelligence (AI) data centers at Idaho National Laboratory, which is one of four sites identified by the Energy Department for AI infrastructure and generation projects on federal land. DOE is seeking proposals from U.S. companies to potentially enter into one or more long-term leasing agreements at the site that would be solely funded by the applicants. DOE notes that it will prioritize applications that integrate innovative energy generation and storage projects with AI data centers, which could include advanced nuclear reactors, enhanced geothermal systems, and cold underground thermal energy storage. Selected applicants will be responsible for building, operating, and decommissioning each infrastructure project and must secure utility interconnection agreements for new power generation and storage systems. Proposals will be competitively evaluated for technological readiness, financial viability, and detailed plans to complete regulatory and permitting requirements. Initial applications are due by November 7, 2025, and DOE will host a virtual event on September 26, 2025 to provide more information. Registration for the event is required by email to Robert Coleman at colemarb@id.doe.gov.
  • MCAA affiliated health funds with participants in New York City may want to keep an eye on a class action lawsuit filed last Monday by the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) Local 1500 Welfare Fund based in New York City alleging that New York Presbyterian Hospital is violating federal antitrust laws and preventing price competition in the general acute care inpatient services market though contract provisions with health insurance providers to charge “supracompetitive” prices and limit competition in the market. In the lawsuit, UFCW seeks an injunction prohibiting the hospital from enforcing these anticompetitive contracting terms, and to restore competition in the healthcare market, reduce costs for healthcare payors, and expand choices for patients. The proposed class of plaintiffs would include all entities whose funds were used to pay New York Presbyterian for general acute care services in New York during the period from July 25, 2021 to the present.
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