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Thursday, January 23, 2025

President Trump rescinds federal contractor affirmative action executive order

Earlier this week, President Trump signed a new executive order, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity. One major piece of this order is that it rescinds Executive Order 11246 (1965, since amended). EO 11246 generally required federal contractors to "take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin."

Notably, affirmative action did *not* mean implementing quotas, set-asides for specific groups, or hiring based on protected characteristics over merits (indeed, these would violate anti-discrimination statutes like Title VII). Instead, the order required employers to create organizational profiles with workforce analysis - tracking total number of employees by job title and identifying areas of underrepresentation compared to the availability of qualified women and minorities in the labor market; setting targets; and implementing action-oriented programs like recruitment and training programs. 

Note that federal contractors are still subject to other affirmative action requirements regarding disabilities and veterans.  

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