One of President Donald J. Trump’s first actions in his second tenure as president was to rollback civil rights protections dating back to the President Lydon B. Johnson administration.[1] Specifically, President Trump revoked Executive Order 11246,[2] which “established requirements for non-discriminatory practices in hiring and employment on the part of U.S. government contractors.”[3] President Johnson signed this order in 1965[4] in the aftermath of the 1960s Civil Rights movement and said the following on his commitment to civil rights in the months prior to the passing of Executive Order 11246:

Thus it is not enough just to open the gates of opportunity. All our citizens must have the ability to walk through those gates. This is the next and the more profound stage of the battle for civil rights. We seek not just freedom but opportunity. We seek not just legal equity but human ability, not just equality as a right and a theory but equality as a fact and equality as a result.[5]

Executive Order 11246 was a landmark prohibiting employment discrimination based on “the grounds of race, color, creed, or national origin.”[6] In 1967, President Johnson would later amend the order via Executive Order 11375 by adding “sex” as a protected class.[7] Executive Order 11246 applied to federal contractors and subcontractors,[8] while Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 applies to government agencies, labor unions, educational institutions, and private employers with fifteen or more employees.[9] The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) was responsible for enforcing Executive Order 11246, however its enforcement ceased as ordered by President Trump.

Administrations following President Johnson expanded these protections. President Richard Nixon issued Executive Order 11478, which governs federal government opportunities, incorporated many of the protected classes from President Johnson’s order.[10] This order was later amended by President Jimmy Carter, who reinforced protections for people with disabilities with Executive Order 12016. [11] In 1998, President Bill Clinton Amended Nixon’s order by Executive Order 13087 to include “sexual orientation” as a protected class in federal employment.[12] In 2014, President Barack Obama later amended Executive Order 11478 and 11246 with Executive Order 13672 to include the phrase “sexual orientation, gender identity.”[13]  President Trump’s revocation of these amendments has eliminated these protected categories.[14]

The legality of Executive Order 11246 was upheld by the third circuit in Contractors Ass'n of E. Pennsylvania v. Sec'y of Lab.[15] In this case, the Contractors Association challenged the Philadelphia Plan, which forced contractors to follow specific minority hiring rules for federally funded projects in the area.[16] The Department of Labor executed the plan through Executive Order 11246.[17] The contractors argued that the Executive Order exceeded the bounds of Executive Power, among other violations they claimed.[18] On the issue of Executive Power, the court held that the Philadelphia Plan, unless barred by some other act of congress, “its inclusion as a pre-condition for federal assistance was within the implied authority of the President and his designees.”[19] This decision reinforced the federal government’s authority to impose affirmative action requirements on federally funded projects to ensure non-discriminatory employment practices.

President Trump’s elimination of these protections is framed by his administration as “terminating radical DEI preferencing in federal contracting and directing federal agencies to relentlessly combat private sector discrimination.”[20] However, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) argues that his actions “undermine obligations dating back to the Johnson administration that firms doing business with the U.S. government and receiving billions in public dollars are held to the highest standards in remedying and preventing bias.”[21] 

Both parties have amended these obligations over the sixty years since the passing of Executive Order 11246. When President Nixon wrote his order he wrote in the order the following: 

It is the policy of the Government of the United States to provide equal opportunity in Federal employment for all persons . . . This policy of equal opportunity applies to and must be an integral part of every aspect of personnel policy and practice in the employment of the Federal Government, to the extent permitted by law.[22]

This is likely the beginning of a long series of attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies that President Trump will continue to target, as he campaigned on attacking DEI programs.[23] President Trump’s actions continue to affirm the belief that many have in him that he is a divisive figure.[24] The President has begun his second term attacking diversity programs and taking shots at “DEI” similar to his response after the  tragic Washington D.C. air collision[25] that saw the death of sixty-seven.[26]

States like Iowa had already followed President Trump’s rhetoric before he came into his second term.[27] Governor Kim Reynolds signed an education bill that came with anti-DEI restrictions,[28] following the Iowa Board of Regents’ decision to ban DEI programs at state universities.[29]            

President Trump, who has run on Making America “Great Again” twice, fails to recognize he has no ability to “Make America Great Again” when he is unable to see America’s greatness lies in its diversity. His shots at “DEI” hide his true intentions, which, as Margaret Huang, president and CEO of the Southern Poverty Law Center, said, are aimed at minorities and women.[30]

His attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion aren’t about a particular program or some acronym — they’re just a sanitized substitute for the racist comments that can no longer be spoken openly… But the message is the same, that women, ​Black and brown communities are inherently less capable, and if they hold positions of power or authority in government or business, it must be because the standards were lowered.​[31]

While the impact of President Trump has yet to be seen, historical economic data suggests it will likely be devastating as it continues to widen existing racial and gender income disparities. In 1960, before Executive Order 11246, the median household income for white Americans was $5,835, [32] while for black Americans it was $3,230. By 1970, five years after the order’s implementation, white households earned $10,236 a 75.5% income increase. Black households earned $6,279, a 94.4% increase.  As of 2023, the median income for white, non-Hispanic households was $89,050, compared to $56,490 for black households.[33] In 2022, even with protections in place, the average American woman “earned 82 cents for every dollar earned by men.”[34] These sorts of gaps will widen with President Trump’s repeal as this now removes safeguards that protect from overt discrimination. 

President Trump’s revocation of Executive Order 11246 is a significant rollback of long-standing civil rights protection, which will impact DEI efforts in federal contracting. These efforts have been championed by both parties throughout the sixty plus years of the order being signed by President Johnson. The consequences have yet to be seen, but given already existing inequalities, this will likely continue to further widen the equitable gaps.