To the ACEC Community,
Late yesterday afternoon, House Speaker Johnson rallied enough Republican votes to pass a stopgap spending bill that would avert a government shutdown on Friday. Johnson’s plan was to hold the vote, then send members home for recess before the Senate can volley back any changes, and that’s exactly what happened. After passing the measure with the slightest of margins (217-213), House members streamed out of the Capitol to head back to their districts. Now, the ball is firmly in the Senate’s court with only a few days to act to avoid a lapse in government funding.
Shortly after the vote, our Advocacy team sent out an email outlining some of the items in the spending bill that are of interest to our industry. We’ve posted that message to the Last Word blog. Stay tuned to your email and the blog for updates on the funding package as it moves in the Senate, and for information on what it could mean for our industry should a shutdown take place.
Speaking of shutdowns, Education Secretary Linda McMahon said late last week that President Trump “certainly intends” to sign an Executive Order shutting down the Department of Education. She went on to say that the President “couldn’t be any more clear” that he wants McMahon to put herself out of a job. And those words are being backed by action, with the announcement yesterday that the department is issuing a reduction in force of 1,300 employees – nearly half of its workforce.
It’s not hard to imagine a scenario in which a shuttered Department of Education has significant and far-reaching effects on our industry. The obvious potential impact is the loss of federal support for STEM education, which would likely exacerbate our workforce challenge. That’s a theoretical impact, but there are practical implications at play, namely cuts in higher education funding that bleed into construction budgets.
Meanwhile, tariffs remain a focus of concern as fears grow of an all-out trade war. President Trump’s 25 percent tariff on U.S. steel and aluminum imports took effect today, with Canada and the European Union responding with their own retaliatory actions.
For our industry, the biggest initial impact will be on construction materials costs, especially with Design-Build and CM-GC contracts where price volatility is a factor. In terms of our firms with international operations, we are keeping a close eye out for retaliatory effects on U.S. companies. It is our hope – and our intention – that the Administration strikes a balance that fosters growth and levels the global economic playing field, while ensuring American ingenuity remains competitive.
As with other funding cuts being proposed across the federal government, we will work to keep you informed on tariffs. The past few weeks have shown that events are fluid, with proposals and policy revisions emanating from the White House on a near daily basis. While some projects have avoided the chopping block after intercessions by Republican Members of Congress as we have seen with recent DOGE actions, these are the exceptions, not the norm.
To keep track of this activity, we are publishing Trump Administration Executive Orders and agency guidance on our website. I encourage you to bookmark this page to keep up to date.
Our job at ACEC is to ensure that our firms and industry are prepared to meet the future. On March 25, the Research Institute will host a roundtable on how to use data like those found in the Business Sentiment Study to your firm’s advantage. Moderated by Institute Senior Research Consultant Joe Bates, this session is designed to help attendees interpret and leverage data into their business decisions and priorities. You can register for the event here.
Have a great week,
Linda Bauer Darr
President & CEO
American Council of Engineering Companies | ACEC
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