1/29/25 What Does the Executive Order on Merit-Based Opportunity Require You to Do (or Not Do)?

January 29, 2025

By Amy Angel & Becky Zuschlag

On January 21, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order titled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity.” The presidential website (whitehouse.gov) makes executive orders available to the public so the full text is available. This new EO is important for employers who have Affirmative Action Plans and those who have undertaken diversity initiatives, and it revokes four Executive Orders issued by former administrations which had mandated those actions in the past.

Federal Contractors

In the EO, President Trump revoked Executive Order 11246 (Equal Employment Opportunity), which was issued in 1965 by President Lyndon Johnson and established affirmative action and equal employment opportunity requirements for federal contractors and subcontractors. The new EO commands federal departments and agencies to “terminate all discriminatory and illegal preferences, mandates, policies, programs, activities, guidance, regulations, enforcement actions, consent orders, and requirements” and instructs the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) to cease promoting “diversity,” requiring “affirmative action” and allowing or encouraging contractors and subcontractors to take affirmative action or engage in workforce balancing by considering race, color, sex, sexual preference, religion, or national origin. The EO also instructs federal contractors and subcontractors to ensure that their employment, procurement, and contracting practices comply with federal civil rights laws by not considering race, color, sex, sexual preference, religion, or national origin.

These changes do not affect the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (“VEVRAA”) or Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act, or federal contractors’ equal employment opportunity and affirmative action obligations under these federal statutes. They are still required to maintain AAPs with respect to veterans and individuals with disabilities.

Federal contractors must comply with the EO by April 21, 2025.

Private Sector Employers

The EO also directs federal agencies to “encourage” private sector employers who do not have federal contracts to eliminate their DEI policies and programs, and instead “advance . . . the policy of individual initiative, excellence, and hard work,” and to identify “potential civil compliance investigations” of for-profit and non-profit organizations with DEI programs, policies, or practices that provide preferences to women and minorities, or otherwise “constitute illegal discrimination or preferences.”

Next Steps

All employers who have federal contracts should review their contracts and policies and procedures for compliance with the new Executive Order.

For questions about the recent Executive Orders, or assistance with reviewing relevant policies and procedures for compliance with the Order, please contact Amy Angel at 503-276-2195 or aangel@barran.com, or Becky Zuschlag at 503-276-2151 or bzuschlag@barran.com.