Immediately following his January 20, 2025 inauguration, President Trump issued various executive orders with respect to diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) initiatives within the federal government. Among these executive orders is a broad executive order tilted “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” (the “Order”), which among other things, rescinds Executive Order (“EO”) 11246.
EO 11246, currently enforced by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”), was first issued in 1965 and prohibited federal contractors from discriminating against employees because of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, and required federal contractors, with at least 50 employees who do over $10,000 in government business in one year, to take affirmative action to ensure that applicants and employees were treated equally regardless of these characteristics.
In addition to rescinding EO 11246, the Order states that OFCCP shall immediately cease “Promoting ‘diversity,’” “Holding Federal contractors and subcontractors responsible for taking “‘affirmative action,’” and “Allowing or encouraging Federal contractors and subcontractors to engage in workforce balancing based on race, color, sexual preference, religion or national origin.” The Order also directs agency heads to “include in every contractor or grant award” a term requiring the contractor/grantee to “certify that it does not operate any programs promoting DEI that violate any applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws.” Further, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”), with the assistance of the Attorney General, has been instructed, per the Order, to (1) to review all Government-wide processes, directives, and guidance, (2) remove references to DEI and DEI principles from Federal acquisition, contracting, grants, and finance assistance procedures, and (3) terminate all “diversity,” “equity,” “equitable decision-making,” “equitable deployment of financial and technical assistance,” “advancing equity,” and like mandates, requirements, programs, or activities, as appropriate. Per the Order, the overarching goal is to promote individual initiative, excellence, and hard work, aligning employment practices more closely with merit-based principles.
Employers should review and update company policies regarding EO 11246 as necessary, while keeping in mind compliance with existing anti-discrimination laws, such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Equal Pay Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.