Construction Dive Quotes Scott Heimberg on Potential Fallout for Border Wall Contractors if Joe Biden is Elected

Akin Gump government contracts partner Scott Heimberg has been quoted in the Construction Dive article “Border wall breakup: Will blacklisting of contractors end if construction stops?” This is the second in a two-part series looking at the ramifications for contractors and subcontractors working on the U.S.-Mexico border wall if Joe Biden wins the presidential election and suspends construction. (Click here to read about the first installment in which government contracts partner Angela Styles was quoted.)

Given the controversy surrounding the wall, this article notes that some state and local agencies warned contractors about being banned from future work if they participated in its construction. Some municipalities, the article says, went as far as promising to exclude those companies just for making a bid on one of the projects.

With Biden vowing not to build any more of the wall, the article asks whether contractors or other firms that have provided services for it should be concerned about being blacklisted.

At the federal level, there has to be a rational basis for denying a contractor the ability to participate in a federal project, said Heimberg. He added, though, that the contracting officer has flexibility in deciding who is considered a responsible bidder, and, if a contractor feels it has been treated unfairly in the procurement process, it could challenge that decision.