Following President Trump’s rescission of Executive Order 11246, on January 24, 2025, the Acting Secretary of Labor issued Secretary’s Order 03-2025 (the “Order”), which orders all Department of Labor employees, including those in the OFCCP, to:
“Cease and desist all investigative and enforcement activity under the rescinded Executive Order 11246 and the regulations promulgated under it. This includes all pending cases, conciliation agreements, investigations, complaints, and any other enforcement-related or investigative activity,” and
“Notify all regulated parties with impacted open reviews or investigations by January 31, 2025, that the EO 11246 component of the review or investigation has been closed and the Section 503 and VEVRAA components of the review or investigation are being held in abeyance pending further guidance.”
Accordingly, contractors currently under an OFCCP audit or selected for a future audit have clarity that the race and sex discrimination elements of those compliance evaluations will be closed by the end of the month. However, it remains to be seen whether and how the agency decides to proceed with the disability and protected veterans components of those evaluations, as those aspects have only been “held in abeyance.”
Proskauer’s Government Contractor Compliance Group will continue to monitor and report developments here.
