In good news for federal contractors, Congress has taken its first step toward permanently blocking implementation of the Fair Pay & Safe Workplaces Rule, also known as the contractor “Blacklisting” Rule.  As we have discussed previously, the Rule (which includes regulations and guidance implementing President Obama’s Executive Order 13673) requires ...

Must-see TV! President Trump said last night that he would be announcing at 8 p.m. EST tonight his nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court vacancy that was created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. You have to hand it to the President for scheduling the announcement for prime time, when everyone can watch. Although I think it would be even better if he had all the candidates with him ...

Just a couple of quick links today:

Hot off the press - Will  Krasnow and Jeanette Phelan have an excellent summary of the immigration Executive Order issued on Friday by President Trump and what employers should tell their employees from the "suspended seven" countries (Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen). The quick and dirty: Do NOT leave the United States!

And our ...

The confirmation hearing for Andrew Puzder, President Trump's nominee for Secretary of Labor, has been postponed yet again - now it's scheduled for Tuesday, February 7. According to the Washington Post, Mr. Puzder has submitted his paperwork to the Office of Government Ethics, which is reviewing it and has not yet turned it over to the Senate.

Meanwhile, it was reported this week that ...

Daily Trumpdates. Our new president has had a busy week, and I've been providing "Daily Trumpdates" of actions taken that are of interest to employers. Here are links to all the Trumpdates from this week:

MONDAY: Regulatory freeze, "listening session" with unions, Puzder status

TUESDAY: Good meeting with union reps

WEDNESDAY (twofer): The 4 known SCOTUS contenders

Victoria ...

Law360 has just reported that President Trump has appointed Philip A. Miscimarra, the only current Republican member of the National Labor Relations Board, as Acting Chairman of the NLRB, replacing Mark Gaston Pearce. Here is Mr. Miscimarra's bio from the NLRB website. This is welcome news for employers.

Dum-da-dum-dum!

Bloomberg BNA reports that the U.S. Department of Labor, which is the defendant in a lawsuit challenging the rule regarding white-collar exemptions to the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, has asked for an extension of time to allow "incoming leadership personnel adequate time to consider the issues."

You know what that means.

The ...

Law360 reported this afternoon that Victoria Lipnic, who has served as one of the two Republican Commissioners of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission during the Obama Administration, has been appointed by President Trump to be acting chair of the EEOC.

Ms. Lipnic has been on record as opposing the EEO-1 compensation reporting requirement that was supposed ...

President Trump announced yesterday that he would be naming his nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court next week. The nominee, if confirmed, will fill the seat vacated by the late Justice Antonin Scalia.

According to most news sources, the three leading contenders are U.S. Court of Appeals Judges William Pryor (Eleventh Circuit), Neil Gorsuch (Tenth Circuit), and Thomas Hardiman ...

NOTE FROM ROBIN: Effective today, I'm officially changing the name of these mini-dispatches about President Trump's first actions related to labor and employment law issues, to "Daily Trumpdate." My first dispatch is here.

President Trump met yesterday with representatives of a number of unions, and according to everyone involved, the meeting went well. It didn't hurt matters that ...