R. Alexander Acosta was sworn in as secretary of the Dept. of Labor on April 28, and faces many labor-related challenges, including the silica rule and the Davis-Bacon prevailing-wage law.

Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.)—the new chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, one of the most important congressional panels for construction—is likely to take a tough stance against environmental regulations and be an advocate for infrastructure, particularly in rural areas, observers say.

A Senate floor vote could come by Feb. 5 on a sweeping energy bill, which, if enacted, would be the first comprehensive energy legislation to make it through Congress since 2007.

Despite a recent setback, Senate Republicans and a few Democrats say they are committed to passing a bill to require the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers to withdraw a newly issued water rule and rewrite it to address concerns from construction and agricultural industries as well as landowners.

Congress has passed a new budget blueprint that would provide relatively modest increases in federal spending for the current fiscal year and the next one. That could provide a boost for construction programs.