NWLC submitted a comment, joined by over 80 other organizations committed to workers’ rights, gender and racial justice, and equal employment opportunity, as well as several former Department of Labor (DOL) officials, opposing a proposed rule by the DOL that would rescind longstanding regulations that help ensure equal opportunity for workers employed by federal contractors. The comment was led by NWLC, Equal Rights Advocates, Chicago Women in Trades, Shriver Center on Poverty Law, and the Sikh Coalition.

For 60 years, Executive Order (“EO”) 11246 – Equal Employment Opportunity (as amended), and the DOL’s implementing regulations, provided core civil rights protections for workers employed by federal contractors—approximately one–fifth of the entire U.S. labor force1—by prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity. EO 11246 and the implementing regulations also helped ensure all workers had a fair chance to compete for good jobs with federal contractors by requiring contractors to undertake proactive measures to identify and address barriers and prevent discrimination. As outlined in our comments, this framework has been critical to ensuring that businesses who have the privilege of contracting with the federal government do not use taxpayer dollars to unlawfully discriminate against working people.

On January 21, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14173, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” which, among other provisions, revoked EO 11246. With this Proposed Rule, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) within the DOL now seeks to fully dismantle the framework that implemented EO 11246. Our comments outline key provisions of this longstanding regulatory framework, the significant impact these regulations have had in opening the doors to opportunity for workers of all backgrounds, and the harm that will result from their rescission. Our comments also respond to the DOL’s additional justifications for rescinding the regulations, which rely on mischaracterizations of the regulations and of the legal frameworks that govern practices to ensure equal employment opportunity. For the reasons outlined in our comments, we strongly oppose the Proposed Rule and urge OFCCP to withdraw it.