Sen. Chris Murphy took credit for portions of President Donald Trump’s executive order Tuesday intended to boost federal “Buy American” policies.
Murphy, D-Conn., has been an outspoken critic of many of the president’s policies. But he said Trump included some ideas he sent to the White House shortly after the president’s inauguration in January.
Among directives in the executive order Trump signed in Wisconsin, federal agencies are ordered to crack down on fraud and abuse in the H1B visa program. Murphy focused on other aspects in Trump’s action, particularly that the federal government enforce guidelines for the hiring of U.S. firms and using U.S. goods in federal projects.
Murphy has urged Trump to appoint a “Buy American” government watchdog, audit government purchases to ensure “Buy American” compliance, require a jobs impact assessment to account for U.S. job creation when awarding government contracts, crack down on excessive waivers of “Buy American” efforts and establish a a centralized government website to increase transparency.
His office said Trump’s order includes two of those ideas: the audit and limiting waivers.