On April 16, 2025, the Department of Labor (DOL) placed hundreds of staff of a critical civil
rights enforcement agency, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), on
administrative leave, including the staff of every OFCCP regional office across the country, save
one.

OFCCP is an office within the Department of Labor that monitors and enforces critical civil rights
protections for workers employed by federal contractors — approximately 20% of the U.S. labor
force. By auditing contractors’ employment practices, investigating complaints, and helping
contractors take proactive steps to prevent and identify discrimination, OFCCP ensures
businesses that have the privilege of contracting with the federal government do not use
taxpayer dollars to unlawfully discriminate against working people.

During his first week in office, Trump repealed a historic civil rights-era executive order —
enforced by OFCCP—that for 60 years has upheld a fundamental promise: when businesses
work for the federal government, they commit to actively combat discrimination and create
opportunities for all workers. The rescission of that executive order robbed OFCCP of a key tool
for combatting discrimination.

But OFCCP is still responsible for enforcing federal laws that protect people with disabilities and
veterans from workplace discrimination and require contractors to take proactive steps to create
equal opportunity for these workers. These new cuts will undermine decades of progress that
expanded opportunity for disabled workers and veterans and led to historic high employment
levels for these communities. And they come on the heels of other cuts that disproportionately
harm these communities, including firings at the Department of Veterans Affairs that threaten
veterans’ access to services and benefits and the elimination of the Department of Health and
Human Services’ Administration for Community Living which threatens the ability of disabled
people and their families to access supports they need to thrive.

In response to the decision to place hundreds of OFCCP staff on administrative leave, a
group of 7 national civil rights and workers rights organizations issued the following
statement:

“These staffing cuts at OFCCP effectively dismantle the work of this vital civil rights enforcement
agency, leaving employees nationwide more vulnerable to discrimination. Having already gutted
OFCCP’s work to promote equal opportunity for women, people of color, and other historically
oppressed communities, the Trump administration is now making cuts that will undermine
decades of progress that expanded opportunity for disabled workers and veterans, which led to
historic high employment levels for these communities. This will have dire consequences for our
nation’s workers, including those who already experience high rates of discrimination and
barriers to gaining, keeping, and advancing in employment. The Administration’s broad assault
on fundamental civil rights protections will be felt across every industry and workplace.
Since his first day in office, Trump has targeted any and all efforts to open the doors to
opportunity for women, people of color, LGBTQIA+ people, people with disabilities, and other
vulnerable communities. Our nation made a fundamental promise in adopting our civil rights
laws to address widespread discrimination and expand opportunity for all workers. By gutting
OFCCP and other civil rights enforcement agencies, the Trump administration is dismantling the
scaffolding that makes our civil rights laws work. But we refuse to go backwards, and we will
continue to fight for the rights of all workers to be free from discrimination.”

This joint statement is on behalf of the following organizations:

National Women’s Law Center
American Association of People with Disabilities
Equal Rights Advocates
National Employment Law Project
National Partnership for Women and Families
National Taskforce on Tradeswomen’s Issues
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights