Navigating Change: ACEC's Commitment to Engineering's Future

Late last week, Congress passed, and President Trump signed, a Continuing Resolution for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2025, keeping the lights of government on through September.

We are paying close attention to the EOs that affect our industry, especially those being weighed by the courts. On February 21, a federal district court for the district of Maryland issued a preliminary injunction against certain provisions of the Trump Administration’s DEI executive orders, including the requirement that federal contractors certify that they don’t have “illegal DEI” initiatives. The judge updated that injunction last week to clarify that it applies to all federal agencies, departments and commissions. However, yesterday, the Fourth Circuit lifted that injunction, making it ripe once more for appeal.?

And breaking late this afternoon, a federal judge in Maryland issued a preliminary injunction against the Trump Administration's orders to dismantle USAID, blocking further actions to fire employees or terminate contracts. We will be tracking these cases on the executive actions page of our website as they develop. I encourage you to bookmark the page to stay up to date.

In other advocacy-related news, our Energy and Water & Environment Committees met jointly in Washington to hear from Congressional speakers and policy experts on a range of energy and environmental topics. The meeting kicked off with remarks from Representative Paul Tonko (D-NY), the Ranking Member of the House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Environment, followed by a panel discussion on President Trump’s recent executive actions on energy and permitting reform.?

Separately, the Energy Committee meeting focused on key infrastructure and policy issues, including data center development, natural gas, and nuclear power. The Committee hosted a representative from Meta, an industry leader in the growing energy demands of data centers and the need for reliable, sustainable power sources. Shell Energy spoke about the role of natural gas in energy, highlighting regulatory challenges and infrastructure expansion needs. Also on the agenda was the resurgence of nuclear energy, particularly small modular reactors (SMRs), and the regulatory hurdles facing their deployment. Legislative staff from the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee and the House Natural Resources Committee provided updates on permitting reform, water programs and federal support for innovation. The meeting highlighted the urgency of addressing energy security and infrastructure resilience in an evolving political landscape.

The Water & Environment Committee held several breakout sessions on topics that included water infrastructure funding, NEPA permitting reforms, and PFAS regulation. The Committee heard from a panel on water sector priorities for reauthorizing and funding the Drinking Water and Clean Water State Revolving Loan Funds. A former top state environmental official discussed the regulatory landscape for PFAS, including the recent designation of the chemicals as hazardous substances under the federal Superfund program. Finally, key staff from the House Transportation & Infrastructure committee provided an update on the committee’s water agenda for the 119th Congress and the potential impacts of budget cuts on planned and ongoing Army Corps of Engineers projects.?

We also took part in a FIDIC North American regional meeting, during which we briefed FIDIC President Catherine Karakatsanis and our counterparts from Canada and Mexico on the changing dynamics in Washington, notably tariffs and international development cuts, as well as opportunities with preserving current tax policy, permitting reform, energy investments, and surface transportation. Our Canadian peers talked about their provincial dynamics and the announcement of a new Prime Minister Mark Carney ahead of a snap election coming soon.

Our Mexican peers talked about President Claudia Sheinbaum’s ambitious plan called Plan Mexico to position Mexico as a top 10 economy, part of which includes a long passenger rail project to support trade corridors.

?It was a fantastic opportunity to gather with these extraordinary peers who are leading the future of engineering and consultancy around the world with a focus on North America. An online FIDIC Contract Users Conference focusing on the Americas and Caribbean region will be held on May 7. To get more involved in the International Committee or to share your experience doing business internationally, please contact Bradley Saull at [email protected].

?There is so much change taking place – here at ACEC, in our firms and, most of all in our government. I know it can be disheartening to see the hostility and hyper-partisanship that now seem to define our political discourse, but our work here continues in a dynamic policy environment. We tune out the noise when we can, gain ground where we can, all the while remembering that what we do is not just about reacting to the current political climate. It’s about shaping the future with purpose and foresight. Because the key to weathering and gaining ground is preparedness.

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