WRF Files Suit Challenging Blacklisting Rules

December 22, 2000

Washington, DC-Wiley, Rein & Fielding, serving as lead counsel, filed a Complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, challenging as arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion and unlawful the Clinton Administration's "midnight" blacklisting regulations. The Complaint on behalf of leading industry groups, including The Business Roundtable, Chamber of Commerce of the United States, National Association of Manufacturers, Associated General Contractors of America, and Associated Builders and Contractors, was filed just two days after the FAR Council published the final regulations in the Federal Register. The final publication of the blacklisting regulations marked the culmination of a process that began in 1997 when Vice President Gore promised an AFL-CIO gathering that he would amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation to ensure that contractors' labor relations records are considered in deciding whether a company will be awarded a government contract. The "midnight" regulations will take effect just two days before the Presidential inauguration.