CBCF EXECUTIVE ORDER TRACKER
Addressing DEI Discrimination by Federal Contractors Executive Order #14398 Date Issued: March 26, 2026 Topic: DEI, Economic Opportunity
WHAT DOES THIS EXECUTIVE ORDER DO? This executive order seeks to disincentivize federal contractors and subcontractors from participating in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices by threatening to terminate their contracts and prosecute them for fraud if they are found to be engaging in “racially discriminatory” DEI practices. The order continues President Trump’s efforts to eliminate DEI practices, characterizing them as “unethical and often illegal.”
HOW WILL THIS EXECUTIVE ORDER BE ENFORCED? This executive order will be enforced by all Cabinet Secretaries and federal agency heads. The order directs all executive departments and agencies to add a clause in their contracts that prohibits contractors and subcontractors from engaging in “racially discriminatory” DEI activities, defined as “disparate treatment based on race or ethnicity in the recruitment, employment, contracting, program participation, or allocation or deployment of an entity’s resources,” within 30 days of the order’s issuance. Within 120 days of the date of this order, each agency head must report compliance to the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy.
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