Jan 23, 2025 Story by: Publisher
This article was updated to add more information about Executive Order 11246.
President Trump signed an executive order rolling back key measures of the Equal Employment Opportunity Order of 1965, also known as Executive Order 11246 (EO 11246). This order, initially signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 24, 1965, aimed to promote equal employment opportunities and prohibit federal contractors from discriminating against employees based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
The modifications made by President Trump’s executive order include:
- Revoking Affirmative Action: The order revokes the affirmative action requirements mandated by Executive Order 11246, which had been in place since 1965.
- Ending Diversity and Inclusion Programs: The order directs federal agencies to end diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and initiatives, deeming them discriminatory.
The executive order revokes Executive Order 11246 (EO 11246), which required federal contractors to uphold affirmative action plans and adhere to anti-discrimination protections based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin. The order instructs the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) to immediately halt activities related to:
- Promoting diversity initiatives,
- Holding contractors accountable for affirmative action, and
- Encouraging workforce balancing based on protected characteristics like race, sex, or religion.
The moves Tuesday, January 21, follow an executive order Trump signed on his first day ordering a sweeping dismantling of the federal government’s diversity and inclusion programs that could touch on everything from anti-bias training to funding for minority farmers and homeowners. Trump has called the programs “discrimination” and insisted on restoring strictly “merit-based” hiring.
The Office of Personnel Management in a Tuesday memo directed agencies to place DEI office staffers on paid leave by 5 p.m. Wednesday and take down all public DEI-focused webpages by the same deadline. Several federal departments had removed the web pages even before the memorandum. Agencies must also cancel any DEI-related training and end any related contracts, and federal workers are being asked to report to Trump’s Office of Personnel Management if they suspect any DEI-related program has been renamed to obfuscate its purpose within 10 days or face “adverse consequences.”
By Thursday, federal agencies are directed to compile a list of federal DEI offices and workers as of Election Day. By next Friday, they are expected to develop a plan to execute a “reduction-in-force action” against those federal workers.
The memo was first reported by CBS News.
Trump’s order revokes one that President Johnson signed on September 24, 1965, more than two years after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have A Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial.
