Six decades of race- and gender-based government hiring initiatives have come to an end. President Donald Trump has repealed a significant legal landmark from the early days of the federal government that required federal contractors to create “affirmative action” programs aimed at boosting workplace diversity. Trump’s order, titled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” targets the dismantling of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs within the federal government and its contractors.
By equating DEI initiatives with earlier affirmative action efforts, the order effectively cancels Executive Order 11246. This order was signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 24, 1965, marking a major policy stemming from the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Johnson’s order established the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs within the Department of Labor. This office was responsible for ensuring that federal contractors methodically eradicated race-based employment discrimination.
The 1965 order prompted a surge of affirmative action programs in private-sector hiring and college admissions. In 1978, a Supreme Court decision, Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, upheld the constitutionality of voluntary affirmative action programs while prohibiting race-based numerical quotas. However, two later Supreme Court decisions legalized the use of racial factors in hiring decisions, both public and private. In 1986, the Sheet Metal Workers v. EEOC decision allowed federal courts to mandate race-based hiring by craft unions, and the following year, Johnson v. Transportation Agency included sex as a permissible hiring criterion.
With Trump’s signature on January 22, the 60-year-old mandate was repealed, including provisions to streamline federal contracting processes. Contractors are now reminded to hire based on merit rather than race, sex, or other characteristics. The order instructs the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to immediately cease any programs or directives that prioritize diversity, affirmative action, or workforce balancing factors.
In the order, Trump stated, “I further order all agencies to enforce our longstanding civil-rights laws and to combat illegal private-sector DEI preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities.” He also instructed that federal offices dedicated to DEI activities place their employees on paid administrative leave and close their facilities by January 22, 2025.
The order also repealed a 1994 mandate for federal actions addressing environmental justice in minority and low-income populations, a 2011 initiative promoting diversity and inclusion in the federal workforce, and a 2016 memorandum for promoting diversity and inclusion in the national security workforce.
The reaction to Trump’s order was swift, led by Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network. Sharpton released a statement declaring a boycott of private businesses complying with the executive order, emphasizing, “Donald Trump can cut federal DEI programs to the bone, he can claw back federal money to expand diversity, but he cannot tell us what grocery store we shop at.”
Sharpton continued to stress that companies reneging on their promises to improve diversity would face the consequences of Black buying power. He declared that over the next 90 days, they would send a clear message by impacting the economic bottom line of these businesses.
Similarly, Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, criticized the executive order. She stated, “This executive order is nothing short of an attempt to take our country backward and does nothing to help our communities grow economically or address the costs of living for hardworking American families.”
Supporters of the order, however, argue that it will ensure fairness by focusing on merit and save money for schools and businesses. House Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) described affirmative action and DEI programs as “antithetical to American exceptionalism.”
Walberg remarked, “From the classroom to the board room, Americans have felt the negative effects. DEI has bloated education budgets while telling students what to think instead of how to think.” These sentiments reflect a belief that merit-based systems are more beneficial for American society.
GianCarlo Canaparo, a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation’s Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, also weighed in on the matter. He noted that the 1965 order was particularly damaging as it “applied not only to defense contractors, but to universities, technology companies, and vast swathes of the private sector.”
Canaparo argued that the repealed order “supercharged race consciousness and racial grievance and did immense damage to the goal of colorblind meritocracy.” He further stated that “even after all these years, Biden officials still cited it as one of the key authorities giving them the power to impose racial preferences.”
This shift in policy marks a significant change in how the federal government approaches issues of diversity and inclusion, aligning more closely with a merit-based perspective. The debate surrounding these changes highlights the ongoing discussion about the role of government in addressing social and economic disparities.
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