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Citing the COVID-19 pandemic as a pretext for emergency rulemaking, the Departments of Labor and Homeland Security issued two rules in mid-October 2020 creating a series of new restrictions on the H-1B visa program that would have slammed the door on talented workers in hard to fill specialty and technical roles. The rules were especially unsound because they were directly issued as final rules, with no notice or opportunity to provide comment on their harmful impacts despite cost estimates that put these rules among the most expensive federal rules ever issued. The NAM joined with a coalition of business groups, health care organizations and prominent universities to challenge the rules, filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration arguing that they were unlawful and hugely detrimental to American competitiveness. On December 1, 2020 a federal judge agreed and handed manufacturers a crucial victory that immediately vacated both rules and protected the H-1B program.