U.S. Chamber blasts “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” executive order
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce submitted comments sharply criticizing the administration’s proposed Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council (FAR Council) regulation and proposed Department of Labor guidance that would implement Executive Order 13673, “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces.”
“This rulemaking steps well outside the bounds of any constitutional or statutory support and is unnecessary since strong protections are already in place.” said Randy Johnson, senior vice president of labor, immigration and employee benefits for the U.S. Chamber. “Our comments argue that these proposed rules are an improper attempt to usurp legislative powers from Congress, would increase the cost of federal contracting and ultimately create more burdens for taxpayers. Additionally, the proposed implementation of the executive order creates a highly complex, dispersed, and cumbersome set of standards and a bureaucratic structure that will strain federal procurement resources, increase contractor costs, and make the procurement system more inefficient.”