Photo of Sean Berman

Sean Berman

Sean Berman is an associate in the firm’s Washington, DC office. He is a member of the Government Contracts and Antitrust/Competition Practice Groups.

Before joining the firm, Sean clerked for Judge Thomas D. Schroeder on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina.

Contact:Read more about Sean BermanEmail

Consistent with the Trump Administration’s focus on procurement fraud, a recent settlement and guilty pleas secured by the DOJ demonstrate that bid rigging is in the Administration’s crosshairs.  Government contractors should be aware of the legal risks associated with bid rigging when engaging in the bidding process. Continue Reading Bid Rigging Risk for Government Contractors

Update: On March 14, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order, “Additional Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions,” which revoked Executive Order 14026, discussed below. The U.S. Department of Labor has stated it is “no longer enforcing Executive Order 14026 or the implementing rule (29 CFR part 23) and will take steps, including rescinding 29 CFR part 23, to implement and effectuate the revocation of Executive Order 14026.” We will continue to monitor further developments.

Earlier this month, the Fifth Circuit ruled in favor of a Biden administration order raising the minimum wage of many types of federal contract workers.  The executive order remains subject to litigation (in both the Fifth Circuit and elsewhere), but is currently effective throughout the country, with a narrow exception for certain state agencies. 

President Biden’s Executive Order 14026 (“the EO”), issued in April 2021, raised the hourly minimum wage to $15.00 for federal contract workers for the following contract types:

  • Procurement contracts for construction projects covered by the Davis-Bacon Act (“DBA”);
  • Service contracts falling under the Service Contract Act (“SCA”);
  • Concessions contracts, including those excluded from the SCA by DOL regulations at 29 C.F.R. 4.133(b); and,
  • Contracts related to federal property or lands and connected to providing services for federal employees, their dependents, or the general public.

EO 14026 directs the U.S. Department of Labor to annually update the hourly minimum wage.  We wrote in October 2024 about DOL’s annual update effective January 1, 2025, which raised the minimum wage for covered contracts from $17.20 to $17.75.  More details are below.Continue Reading Fifth Circuit Adds New Wrinkle to Ongoing Fight Over Federal Contract Worker Minimum Wage Requirement