A ruling was passed in 2000 by the FAR Council in which a firm may be effectively blacklisted from federal contracts if a contracting officer had reason to believe there was evidence that the firm, or its principles, had violated or been noncompliant regarding a variety of contractor responsibility, labor relations costs, and legal costs issues. The ruling had been challenged by a number of industry associations, and a lawsuit even filed by some of them.

On December 27, 2001, the ruling was repealed by the FAR Council in response to industry comments and its own assessment of the ruling's merits.