Today President Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) titled “Executive Order on Aligning Federal Contracting and Hiring Practices With the Interests of American Workers”, which directs all federal agencies within the next 120 days to review their hiring practices in order to determine whether H-1B workers provided services through a contract or subcontract and assess whether there was a negative impact on the U.S. labor market as a result.
More specifically, the EO directs federal agencies to determine:
Whether any of the workers performing services under a contract with a contractor or subcontractor were H-1B workers,
To outline the nature of the work performed, how it impacted U.S .workers, how it impacted national security,
To assess whether any of the work previously performed in the U.S. has been outsourced to another country, and
To review their policies in order to ensure they comply with laws governing positions where U.S. workers must be hired.
The order also gives the Department of Labor 45 days to ensure compliance with regulatory attestations it must make regarding the employment of H-1B workers (which require employer to attest that foreign workers will receive the same wages, working conditions, and benefits as similarly situated U.S. workers).