A successful lawsuit by filed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and others resulted in the delay of an executive order to weed out undocumented workers from the payrolls of federal contractors and subcontractors. Prior to the establishment of the new rules, which were expected to go into effect Jan. 15, use of the government’s so-called E-verify system was voluntary. But upon enactment of the order by former President George W. Bush, federal contractors with contracts of $100,000 or more will be required to use the system. But delayed effectiveness of the new rule has only been put off until Feb. 20. Under the new rule, federal contractors and sub-contractors will be required to verify through E-Verify the employment eligibility of all new-hires and all existing employees “directly performing work” on the covered federal contract, during the term of the covered contract. E-Verify is expected to catch more people using fraudulent social security numbers via a database that draws from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Social Security Administration and other government sources.