Key Updates
Related Thought Leadership and Analysis
- DEI Implementation: GSA Announces Class Deviation to the Federal Acquisition Regulation to Implement DEI Related Executive Orders
by: Angela B. Styles, Susan H. Lent, Scott M. Heimberg, Samantha Jennifer Block, Andrea de la Camara - Executive Order: Ending DEI and Affirmative Action for Federal Contractors/Grant Recipients
By: Scott M. Heimberg, Susan H. Lent, Anthony T. Pierce, Angela B. Styles, Michael J. Vernick, Marta A. Thompson, Samantha Jennifer Block, Amanda S. McGinn, Andrea de la Camara, David Korin - Early Assessment of the Effect of President Trump’s New Executive Orders on FERC Infrastructure Projects
by Emily P. Mallen, Stephen J. Hug, Scott Daniel Johnson, Ben N. Reiter, Sharmila P. Das
Summary
The Order rescinds all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices or programs across all executive departments and agencies. It also revokes the following executive actions: Executive Order 12898 of February 11, 1994 (Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations); Executive Order 13583 of August 18, 2011 (Establishing a Coordinated Government-wide Initiative to Promote Diversity and Inclusion in the Federal Workforce); Executive Order 13672 of July 21, 2014 (Further Amendments to Executive Order 11478, Equal Employment Opportunity in the Federal Government, and Executive Order 11246, Equal Employment Opportunity); The Presidential Memorandum of October 5, 2016 (Promoting Diversity and Inclusion in the National Security Workforce); and Executive Order 11246 of September 24, 1965 (Equal Employment Opportunity). Agencies must also work to end DEI initiatives in the private sector in areas of their jurisdiction.
Legal Challenges
| Date Complaint Filed | February 3, 2025 |
| Venue | United States District Court for the District of Maryland, Baltimore Division |
| Summary |
Plaintiffs sue Defendants (President Trump and various agencies) and argue that Exec. Order No. 14151 is an unconstitutional violation of the Spending Clause, and the Fifth Amendment’s due process guarantee for vagueness. Plaintiffs further argue that Exec. Order No. 14173 unconstitutionally violates Fifth Amendment due process for vagueness; the First Amendment’s free speech clause; and the separation of powers. Plaintiffs seek declaratory judgements that both orders are unlawful and unconstitutional, and preliminary and permanent injunctions against both. |
