recognition, the status of any collective bargaining agreement, any recent elections or petitions, and any pending unfair labor practice proceedings. The court decision does not make withdrawing recognition risk-free. An employer that acts without sufficient objective evidence may still face refusal-to-bargain charges. Potential buyers and successor employers can now plan for multiple outcomes: continued recognition and bargaining with the incumbent union, or a carefully supported challenge to the union’s majority status resulting in a withdrawal of recognition and consequent refusal to bargain. This is the first federal appellate decision to address the successor bar since the Supreme Court’s decision in Loper Bright . While most federal appellate courts are expected to follow suit, employers should not assume the rule will be treated uniformly across jurisdictions. For employers considering the acquisition of a unionized business, the principal takeaway is practical. The successor bar should no longer be treated as an unavoidable one-year period during which majority support is legally irrelevant. Union status, employee support, and available evidence should become part of the transaction analysis from the beginning. Potential buyers and successor employers alike should evaluate their options to utilize this regained tool.
Defense Industrial Base Expansion Brings New Supply Chain and Cybersecurity Requirements
Contributors: Todd Overman and Tris Sebesta
Federal procurement policy is increasingly being used to strengthen domestic production, secure critical supply chains, and expand the pool of companies supporting the defense industrial base. The Army’s ongoing modernization of its 23 depots, arsenals, and ammunition plants reflects that broader push. At Redstone Arsenal, Army Materiel Command has described the effort as a transition toward a more modern, data-driven organic industrial base with greater production capacity and improved wartime readiness. The Trump administration reinforced those priorities on July 20, 2026, when President Trump issued an executive order directing the Department of War (DoW) to strengthen domestic and allied sourcing of critical materials. Among other measures, the order tightens the standards for waivers from existing sourcing restrictions and directs DoW to develop new supply chain mapping requirements. Those requirements could reach prime contractors and subcontractors at every tier and require companies to trace designated critical supply chains from raw materials through finished products. The contemplated rules would also require detailed bills of materials and supplier vetting for financial, foreign ownership, and manufacturing and supply risks, while requiring DoW to identify vulnerabilities, bottlenecks, and single points of failure. Congress is pursuing many of the same objectives through the pending FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The House-passed bill would expand eligible uses of the Defense Industrial Base Fund, expedite qualification of domestic and allied critical-mineral sources, encourage additional suppliers for solid rocket motors, and impose new restrictions aimed at reducing adversarial influence in defense supply chains. The Senate proposal, still awaiting a passing vote, similarly includes industrial base and supply chain reforms, including a grant program that would help small businesses and non-traditional contractors offset the costs of Level 2 Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC).
That focus on CMMC reflects the growing connection between traditional supply chain security and cybersecurity.
4 MANUFACTURING & INDUSTRIAL: OUTLOOK & TRENDS |
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