ACEC has been receiving many questions on the new Administration's actions related to DEI programs and I wanted to provide a summary of what we know as of today.
In 2020, the Trump Administration issued Executive Order 13950, which prohibited federal agencies and federal contractors from having DEI training for their employees. The following year the Biden Administration rescinded EO 13950. Earlier this week, the Trump Administration reinstated EO 13950 by rescinding the Biden Administration rescission. EO 13950 stated that employees of federal agencies and federal contractors could report DEI training through the Office of Federal Contract Compliance (OFCCP) at the Department of Labor.
In another executive order on ending DEI, the Trump Administration rescinded Executive Order 11246, which was signed in 1965 by President Johnson to prevent discrimination in federal employment and among federal contractors. The new EO appears to limit the authorities of OFCCP. However, email boxes have been popping up at several federal agencies that are designed to receive complaints from federal employees and federal contractor employees about ongoing DEI programs.
We are hearing that going forward federal contractors might be required to certify that they do not have DEI programs (under that or any other name), and this reporting requirement could have False Claims Act implications. We will circulate additional information as it becomes available.
Finally, we have received questions about the status of the DOT DBE program. As of now, the program is still in effect in its current form. The DBE program is codified in statute and cannot be immediately rescinded by executive order. However, the Administration could seek to make changes to the program. It also could be impacted by the pending federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the rebuttable presumption of social disadvantage in the DBE program. We will continue to keep members informed of all developments on this front.
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