The U.S. Dept. of Defense is reviewing its construction projects to determine which may or may not require the use of union project labor agreements, the Pentagon’s head of energy, installations and environment testified before a Senate subcommittee June 17.

“We are working with [Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command] and [U.S. Army Corps of Engineers] to go project by project and ensure that we’re finding the most economical and speedy way to continue to move these projects along,” Assistant Secretary of Defense Dale Marks said in response to a question about PLAs during a hearing on the requested $18.9-billion military construction and family housing budget.

The funding request for various types of infrastructure, military installation and other construction projects is a $1.4-billion increase over the 2025 budget. Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.), chair of the subcommittee on military construction, Veterans Affairs and related agencies, said he was “encouraged” to see the increase, but is “concerned that we’re not necessarily buying more, we’re simply paying more.” He added that the Defense Dept. has 40 construction projects so costly that they require incremental funding over multiple years.

“Some of these budget numbers are staggering,” Boozman said. “Not that long ago, hitting the $100-million mark on a single project was significant. Now it has become routine.”

The senator also noted the recent court ruling that blocked federal agencies from removing PLA requirements from their large construction contracts. After Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he was directing department officials to remove PLA requirements from construction contracts worth $35 million or more, and several other agencies made similar moves, North America’s Building Trades Union filed the lawsuit that led to the injunction keeping the PLA requirements in place.

The injunction provides an example of how external factors can introduce uncertainty into planning and add to project costs, Boozman said.

“Anything that increases cost and schedule is of concern to the department right now,” Marks said in response to a question from Boozman on PLAs.

Marks noted that the Trump administration supports the use of PLAs “where those are practicable and cost-effective,” using the same language as a recent memo from White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought. In the memo, Vought directed agencies to continue using PLAs, but also amended guidance to provide them with more leeway to not use them in cases where the requirement is expected to sufficiently impact the price of bids. 

Under the new guidance, agencies anticipating bids 10% higher than their budget with a PLA in place can instead forego the requirement.

“Right now we’re not going to be pursuing any blanket deviations” from the PLA requirement, Marks said.