Judge Says Trump Administration Must Comply With Order to Restore Foreign Aid Funding, What It Means for Government Contractors
As PilieroMazza recently discussed , on February 13, 2025, Judge Amir H. Ali, of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) requiring the Trump administration to restore funding for foreign assistance awards halted as a result of recent executive and agency actions. On February 20, 2025, Judge Ali partially granted a motion to enforce the TRO, criticizing the government for continuing its blanket suspension pending review of foreign assistance agreements—which is the very action the TRO . . . Read More
DEI Executive Orders Partially Blocked: What’s In and What’s Out, For Now . . .
On February 21, 2025, a federal court [1] preliminarily blocked the Trump administration from enforcing key provisions of the recent executive orders (EOs) to eliminate “illegal” diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and initiatives from the federal government and federal contractors. The court found the provisions to be unconstitutionally vague and likely to infringe on free speech. This PilieroMazza client alert outlines the current status of the EOs and potential impacts on federal contractors. EOs 14151 and 14173 , issued by the Trump administration . . . Read More
UPDATE: President Trump’s Executive Orders Impose Tariffs on Products from Canada, Mexico, and China: The Cost to Government Contractors
PilieroMazza recently published a client alert (linked here ) regarding three executive orders issued on February 1, 2025, imposing additional tariffs on products from Canada, Mexico, and China that were to be effective February 4, 2025. This client alert provides an update on these tariffs as well as tariffs on steel and aluminum and reciprocal tariffs that were announced last week. To summarize, products from Canada and Mexico were set to be subject to 25% tariffs, except for “energy or energy resources” . . . Read More
Federal Judge Orders USAID and Foreign Aid Funding to be Restored
On January 20, 2025, the President issued Executive Order Number 14169 (Executive Order), which imposed a 90-day pause on new obligations and disbursements of development assistance funds to foreign countries and implementing non-governmental organizations, international organizations, and contractors pending reviews of such programs. Similarly, in furtherance of the Executive Order, on January 24, 2025, the Secretary of State issued a Memorandum ordering a pause on all new obligations of foreign assistance funding pending an 85-day review of United States foreign assistance programs. The Secretary additionally . . . Read More
Federal Judge Clarifies Scope of TRO Enjoining Federal Spending Freeze
As we recently outlined , on January 31, 2025, U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) that blocks the federal funding freeze outlined in the now-rescinded January 27, 2025, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) directive (Directive). In the Order, the Court ruled that the Defendants (including the President, OMB, and numerous federal agencies) are prohibited from reissuing, adopting, implementing, or otherwise giving effect to the OMB Directive under any other name or title or through any other . . . Read More
Federal Spending Freeze and Executive Orders Blocked by Federal Judge: What Contractors Need to Know
As we recently noted , President Trump has issued a flurry of Executive Orders (EO) since he took office. Among other things, President Trump has sought to eliminate DEI and affirmative action-based programs and has put a 90-day pause on all foreign development assistance funding. More sweepingly, on January 27, 2025, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a directive (Directive) requiring agencies to pause all funding for federal financial assistance and other relevant agency activities that may be implicated . . . Read More
President Trump’s Executive Orders Impose Tariffs on Products from Canada, Mexico, and China: The Cost to Government Contractors
On February 1, 2025, President Trump issued 3 executive orders imposing additional tariffs on products from Canada , Mexico, and China, effective February 4, 2025. The tariffs on Canadian and Chinese products will go into effect on February 4, 2025. Pursuant to an agreement reached between Mexico and the U.S. on February 3, 2025, the tariffs on Mexican products will be delayed for a month. This client alert identifies key takeaways from the executive orders and provides important considerations for government . . . Read More
Key Executive Orders Passed by President Trump and Their Implications for Government Contractors
Since President Trump took office a little over ten days ago, he has issued a flurry of Executive Orders (EO) aiming to further his policy objectives and rescind certain policies set by the Biden Administration. Many of these EOs affect government contractors working on federal contracts, as well as contractors working on state and local projects that receive federal assistance. On February 12, 2025, PilieroMazza will host a webinar addressing these Executive Orders in-depth and provide cost recovery strategies for . . . Read More
Trump’s Executive Order on IIJA and IRA Contracts: Maximizing Cost Recovery for Government Contractors
On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order entitled “ Unleashing American Energy ” (the Executive Order) aimed at reversing many of the Biden Administration’s clean energy and climate-related actions. The Executive Order will have significant impacts on many contracts (as well as grants, cooperative agreements, loans, and other awards) that are funded by either the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act of 2021 (IIJA) or the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA). Given the Executive Order and its wide-ranging impacts on federal, state, and local projects, PilieroMazza provides important steps for potentially affected contractors . . . Read More
Executive Order Targets Affirmative Action Programs: New Compliance Requirements for Government Contractors
Just days into taking office, President Trump delivered on his campaign promises to dismantle DEI programs in federal agencies. On January 20 and 21, President Trump issued two such executive orders targeting DEI and affirmative action-based programs for agencies and government contractors. PilieroMazza previously wrote about Trump’s Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing Executive Order for contractors who may perform work on DEI contracts, available here . This article focuses on the Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity Executive Order (the Order). PilieroMazza reviews the . . . Read More