Trump Revokes Decades-Old Executive Order on Workplace Discrimination and Affirmative Action

United States President Donald Trump has taken significant action this week by revoking an executive order that had been in place for six decades, which prohibited discrimination in the workplace and promoted affirmative action among federal contractors.

The Trump administration’s decision to revoke Executive Order 11246 eliminated protections for federal contractors against discrimination based on gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, race, color, religion, and sex. This executive order had empowered the Labor Department to enforce these protections through a dedicated contracting standards office.

In a memo released on Wednesday, the White House stated that the revocation of the order is intended to “protect the civil rights of all Americans and expand individual opportunity by terminating radical DEI preferencing in federal contracting.” The memo emphasized that the action would combat private sector discrimination, but it also raised concerns about the loss of necessary affirmative action measures that had previously prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin, according to the Department of Labor.