Executive Order 13208: Amendment to Executive Order 13202, Preservation of Open Competition and Government Neutrality Towards Government Contractors’ Labor Relations on Federal and Federally Funded Construction Projects
President: George W. Bush
Added a case-specific exemption to EO 13202 for construction projects already governed by bid documents, project agreements or labor agreements and already under awarded contracts when EO 13208 was signed.
Status: Revoked.
Is Executive Order 13208 still in effect? No. Revoked with EO 13202 on February 6, 2009.
What does Executive Order 13208 do?
The order assigned these duties: Awarding authority or assistance recipient — Apply for a project-specific exemption and document the pre-existing arrangement; Head of the responsible executive agency — Find that controlling documents and at least one covered construction contract pre-dated the amendment.
Before and after
Before the order
EO 13202 generally barred federal agencies and recipients of federal construction assistance from requiring or prohibiting project labor agreements.
After the order
Agency heads could preserve pre-existing project arrangements that met both conditions. The amendment was implemented with EO 13202, upheld as part of that order’s framework and lost effect when EO 13502 revoked EO 13202 as amended.
Who had to do what
| Agency / office | Action | Timing / position |
|---|---|---|
| Awarding authority or assistance recipient | Apply for a project-specific exemption and document the pre-existing arrangement | As needed |
| Head of the responsible executive agency | Find that controlling documents and at least one covered construction contract pre-dated the amendment | Before granting an exemption |
| Contracting and assistance officials | Continue applying EO 13202 to projects that did not qualify | Until revocation in 2009 |
What happened next
EO 13208 signed.
The FAR Council issued an interim rule implementing EO 13202 as amended by EO 13208.
The D.C. Circuit upheld EO 13202 as amended and vacated the district-court injunction.
The FAR Council adopted its implementation as a final rule.
EO 13502 revoked EO 13202 as amended, ending EO 13208’s exemption framework.
Court status
See the court documents in Sources by type.
Legal and source detail
How it works legally
The Federal Property and Administrative Services Act supplied the asserted procurement authority. In Building and Construction Trades Department v. Allbaugh, the D.C. Circuit upheld EO 13202 as amended against the pleaded statutory and labor-law challenges. EO 13208 created no independent rights and was extinguished with the underlying order.
Sources by type
If a source is unavailable, first check the cited publisher or another official repository. The cited publisher remains the authority.
Primary and official sources
Orders, laws, court records and official implementation material.
How we checked this
Last checked against the sources above on October 2, 2026. How we research →