Clearing the Confusion: What the Repeal of Executive Order 11246 Means for Employers and Employees
Recent updates from the White House have sparked questions and concerns across the country. On January 21, 2025, a new executive order was issued aimed at what the administration calls "ending illegal discrimination and restoring merit-based opportunity." This order rescinds several long-standing policies, including Executive Order 11246 of 1965, which required federal contractors to take affirmative action to ensure equal employment opportunities.
For many, these changes have prompted a wave of uncertainty. Many people have questions like:
“Are civil rights illegal now?”
“Was the Civil Rights Act of 1964 repealed?”
“Have my employee rights been taken away?”
“Does this mean I no longer have to worry about compliance as a business owner?”
“What does this mean for diversity initiatives?”
“Are civil rights protections now illegal?”
“Has the government taken away workplace protections?”
“Do businesses still need to care about diversity and inclusion?”
these questions and many more have been circulating as people try to make sense of what these shifts actually mean. Small business owners, federal contractors, human Resources professionals and employees alike are wondering about the implications for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, compliance requirements, and workplace culture.
We understand the confusion and fear many are feeling. The recent presidential order dated January 21, 2025, revoked several executive actions, including Executive Order 11246, which required federal contractors to take affirmative action to ensure equal employment opportunities. While this repeal has significant implications for federal contractors, it’s crucial to note that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 remains intact and fully enforceable.
Let’s break down what this means, and what it doesn’t mean, how the 1964 law differs from the now-repealed 1965 order, and why this is a pivotal moment for businesses to reaffirm their commitment to fairness and opportunity.We’ll also provide links to resources for more details.
What Was Revoked?
The executive order rescinds several previous actions related to equal opportunity and affirmative action, including:
Executive Order 12898 (1994):
Focused on addressing environmental justice for minority and low-income populations. This order aimed to ensure federal actions considered the environmental and health effects on disadvantaged communities.
Read the original order here.Executive Order 13583 (2011):
Established a coordinated government-wide initiative to promote diversity and inclusion in the federal workforce. Its goal was to develop strategies to attract, recruit, and retain a diverse federal workforce.
Read the original order here.Executive Order 13672 (2014):
Expanded equal opportunity protections for federal employees and contractors to include sexual orientation and gender identity.
Read the original order here.Presidential Memorandum (2016):
Focused on diversity and inclusion in the national security workforce, emphasizing recruitment and retention strategies to ensure a broad range of perspectives in decision-making.
Read the original memo here.Executive Order 11246 (1965):
Required federal contractors to take affirmative action to ensure equal employment opportunities without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin. Contractors were also required to report on their diversity efforts.
Read the original order here.
What This Means
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 Stands Firm:
The Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, remains fully intact. Your rights as an employee under this foundational law have not changed.Federal Contractors Face Changes:
The repeal of Executive Order 11246 means federal contractors are no longer required to implement affirmative action plans or submit diversity reports. For 90 days, the existing regulatory framework will still apply. Afterward, contractors must comply with civil rights laws but without affirmative action obligations.DEI Initiatives Are No Longer Mandated:
Federal agencies and contractors are no longer required to implement or support programs promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). However, voluntary DEI initiatives are not prohibited—businesses can still choose to prioritize inclusive hiring practices.
What It Doesn’t Mean
Civil rights are not illegal. The executive order does not overturn the Civil Rights Act or remove its protections.
Your workplace rights remain protected. Employees still have legal recourse against discrimination under federal law.
Diversity initiatives are not banned. Employers can continue to foster inclusive workplaces, but these efforts are no longer federally mandated for contractors.
What’s the Difference Between the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Executive Order 11246?
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a cornerstone of American labor and civil rights law. It prohibits discrimination in employment based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. This law applies to most employers, public and private, with 15 or more employees. It created lasting legal protections for employees, enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
Executive Order 11246, signed in 1965, expanded on this framework specifically for federal contractors. While the Civil Rights Act ensures basic protections for all employees, Executive Order 11246 required federal contractors to go further, implementing affirmative action programs to promote equal opportunity and actively address workforce imbalances. This included:
Setting diversity goals for hiring and promotion.
Reporting diversity metrics to the Department of Labor.
Taking specific steps to recruit, train, and retain employees from underrepresented groups.
With the repeal of Executive Order 11246, federal contractors are no longer bound by these requirements. However, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 remains fully intact, meaning all employers—including contractors—are still prohibited from engaging in workplace discrimination.
Why This Matters
At Peopleish, we believe HR is more than compliance—it’s about building workplaces rooted in fairness, opportunity, and decency. While the legal obligations for contractors have changed, the principle of equal opportunity remains. Here’s why it matters to take the high road:
Culture Drives Success: An inclusive workplace fosters trust, engagement, and productivity.
Reputation Matters: Being known as a fair and respectful employer attracts talent and strengthens public perception.
It’s the Right Thing to Do: Compliance with the law is important, but creating equitable opportunities is about more than checking a box—it’s about treating people with dignity and respect.
It’s also worth noting that inclusivity doesn’t mean handing out unearned opportunities. Equal opportunity is about giving everyone a fair chance to succeed based on their qualifications, experience, and merit—not their identity.
A Time for Clarity and Leadership
As federal policies evolve, the way forward for businesses may feel uncertain. What remains constant, however, is the importance of fostering workplaces that value fairness, opportunity, and respect. Whether shaped by law or by principle, these values build trust, enhance reputation, and create environments where employees and businesses thrive together.
At Peopleish, we’re here to help you navigate these changes with clarity and confidence. By understanding the facts and aligning them with the unique needs of your business, you can make informed decisions that reflect both compliance and leadership.
This is an opportunity to lead—not by reacting, but by setting the tone for what’s next. Let’s focus on facts, stay grounded in fairness, and build workplaces that move forward with integrity.
For more insights on why fairness in the workplace matters, visit our blog post:
Why the High Road Still Matters: Equal Opportunity in a Shifting Landscape.
The original Text of the presidential Action are as follows as posted to https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-illegal-discrimination-and-restoring-merit-based-opportunity/ on january 24, 2025:
ENDING ILLEGAL DISCRIMINATION AND
RESTORING MERIT-BASED OPPORTUNITY
January 21, 2025
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:
Section 1. Purpose. Longstanding Federal civil-rights laws protect individual Americans from discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. These civil-rights protections serve as a bedrock supporting equality of opportunity for all Americans. As President, I have a solemn duty to ensure that these laws are enforced for the benefit of all Americans.
Yet today, roughly 60 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, critical and influential institutions of American society, including the Federal Government, major corporations, financial institutions, the medical industry, large commercial airlines, law enforcement agencies, and institutions of higher education have adopted and actively use dangerous, demeaning, and immoral race- and sex-based preferences under the guise of so-called “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) or “diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility” (DEIA) that can violate the civil-rights laws of this Nation.
Illegal DEI and DEIA policies not only violate the text and spirit of our longstanding Federal civil-rights laws, they also undermine our national unity, as they deny, discredit, and undermine the traditional American values of hard work, excellence, and individual achievement in favor of an unlawful, corrosive, and pernicious identity-based spoils system. Hardworking Americans who deserve a shot at the American Dream should not be stigmatized, demeaned, or shut out of opportunities because of their race or sex.
These illegal DEI and DEIA policies also threaten the safety of American men, women, and children across the Nation by diminishing the importance of individual merit, aptitude, hard work, and determination when selecting people for jobs and services in key sectors of American society, including all levels of government, and the medical, aviation, and law-enforcement communities. Yet in case after tragic case, the American people have witnessed first-hand the disastrous consequences of illegal, pernicious discrimination that has prioritized how people were born instead of what they were capable of doing.
The Federal Government is charged with enforcing our civil-rights laws. The purpose of this order is to ensure that it does so by ending illegal preferences and discrimination.
Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of the United States to protect the civil rights of all Americans and to promote individual initiative, excellence, and hard work. I therefore order all executive departments and agencies (agencies) to terminate all discriminatory and illegal preferences, mandates, policies, programs, activities, guidance, regulations, enforcement actions, consent orders, and requirements. 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.
Sec. 3. Terminating Illegal Discrimination in the Federal Government. (a) The following executive actions are hereby revoked:
(i) Executive Order 12898 of February 11, 1994 (Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations);
(ii) Executive Order 13583 of August 18, 2011 (Establishing a Coordinated Government-wide Initiative to Promote Diversity and Inclusion in the Federal Workforce);
(iii) Executive Order 13672 of July 21, 2014 (Further Amendments to Executive Order 11478, Equal Employment Opportunity in the Federal Government, and Executive Order 11246, Equal Employment Opportunity); and
(iv) The Presidential Memorandum of October 5, 2016 (Promoting Diversity and Inclusion in the National Security Workforce).
(b) The Federal contracting process shall be streamlined to enhance speed and efficiency, reduce costs, and require Federal contractors and subcontractors to comply with our civil-rights laws. Accordingly:
(i) Executive Order 11246 of September 24, 1965 (Equal Employment Opportunity), is hereby revoked. For 90 days from the date of this order, Federal contractors may continue to comply with the regulatory scheme in effect on January 20, 2025.
(ii) The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs within the Department of Labor shall immediately cease:
(A) Promoting “diversity”;
(B) Holding Federal contractors and subcontractors responsible for taking “affirmative action”; and
(C) Allowing or encouraging Federal contractors and subcontractors to engage in workforce balancing based on race, color, sex, sexual preference, religion, or national origin.
(iii) In accordance with Executive Order 13279 of December 12, 2002 (Equal Protection of the Laws for Faith-Based and Community Organizations), the employment, procurement, and contracting practices of Federal contractors and subcontractors shall not consider race, color, sex, sexual preference, religion, or national origin in ways that violate the Nation’s civil rights laws.
(iv) The head of each agency shall include in every contract or grant award:
(A) A term requiring the contractual counterparty or grant recipient to agree that its compliance in all respects with all applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws is material to the government’s payment decisions for purposes of section 3729(b)(4) of title 31, United States Code; and
(B) A term requiring such counterparty or recipient to certify that it does not operate any programs promoting DEI that violate any applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws.
(c) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), with the assistance of the Attorney General as requested, shall:
(i) Review and revise, as appropriate, all Government-wide processes, directives, and guidance;
(ii) Excise references to DEI and DEIA principles, under whatever name they may appear, from Federal acquisition, contracting, grants, and financial assistance procedures to streamline those procedures, improve speed and efficiency, lower costs, and comply with civil-rights laws; and
(iii) Terminate all “diversity,” “equity,” “equitable decision-making,” “equitable deployment of financial and technical assistance,” “advancing equity,” and like mandates, requirements, programs, or activities, as appropriate.
Sec. 4. Encouraging the Private Sector to End Illegal DEI Discrimination and Preferences. (a) The heads of all agencies, with the assistance of the Attorney General, shall take all appropriate action with respect to the operations of their agencies to advance in the private sector the policy of individual initiative, excellence, and hard work identified in section 2 of this order.
(b) To further inform and advise me so that my Administration may formulate appropriate and effective civil-rights policy, the Attorney General, within 120 days of this order, in consultation with the heads of relevant agencies and in coordination with the Director of OMB, shall submit a report to the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy containing recommendations for enforcing Federal civil-rights laws and taking other appropriate measures to encourage the private sector to end illegal discrimination and preferences, including DEI. The report shall contain a proposed strategic enforcement plan identifying:
(i) Key sectors of concern within each agency’s jurisdiction;
(ii) The most egregious and discriminatory DEI practitioners in each sector of concern;
(iii) A plan of specific steps or measures to deter DEI programs or principles (whether specifically denominated “DEI” or otherwise) that constitute illegal discrimination or preferences. As a part of this plan, each agency shall identify up to nine potential civil compliance investigations of publicly traded corporations, large non-profit corporations or associations, foundations with assets of 500 million dollars or more, State and local bar and medical associations, and institutions of higher education with endowments over 1 billion dollars;
(iv) Other strategies to encourage the private sector to end illegal DEI discrimination and preferences and comply with all Federal civil-rights laws;
(v) Litigation that would be potentially appropriate for Federal lawsuits, intervention, or statements of interest; and
(vi) Potential regulatory action and sub-regulatory guidance.
Sec. 5. Other Actions. Within 120 days of this order, the Attorney General and the Secretary of Education shall jointly issue guidance to all State and local educational agencies that receive Federal funds, as well as all institutions of higher education that receive Federal grants or participate in the Federal student loan assistance program under Title IV of the Higher Education Act, 20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq., regarding the measures and practices required to comply with Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, 600 U.S. 181 (2023).
Sec. 6. Severability. If any provision of this order, or the application of any provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the remainder of this order and the application of its provisions to any other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
Sec. 7. Scope. (a) This order does not apply to lawful Federal or private-sector employment and contracting preferences for veterans of the U.S. armed forces or persons protected by the Randolph-Sheppard Act, 20 U.S.C. 107 et seq.
(b) This order does not prevent State or local governments, Federal contractors, or Federally-funded State and local educational agencies or institutions of higher education from engaging in First Amendment-protected speech.
(c) This order does not prohibit persons teaching at a Federally funded institution of higher education as part of a larger course of academic instruction from advocating for, endorsing, or promoting the unlawful employment or contracting practices prohibited by this order.
Sec. 8. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department, agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to and does not create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
THE WHITE HOUSE,
January 21, 2025.
