President Trump Revokes Executive Order 11246

As many of you have heard, last night President Trump signed an Executive Order that revokes Executive Order 11246, which is the order the AAP reporting regulations are built upon. The President’s action does not impact the requirements for protected veterans and individuals with disabilities and does not affect any state reporting requirements.

The Executive Order was posted on the White House website this morning: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-illegal-discrimination-and-restoring-merit-based-opportunity/.

We do not have much more information at this time and are reaching out to government officials and others to learn the precise impact of these actions, but we do know from the text of the new order that contractors will have to certify to certain aspects of their employment practices, including that they must “certify that [they do] not operate any programs promoting DEI that violate any applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws.” The order also states that all contractors must in general comply with Federal anti-discrimination laws.  

Though the requirement to prepare “affirmative action plans” for women and minorities has been rescinded, it is unknown at this time what reporting and data collection obligations may be put in place under the new Executive Order: the order calls for the Office of Management and Budget/Attorney General to “Review and revise, as appropriate, all Government-wide processes, directives and guidance.” Therefore, we believe the proper analysis of workforce data to ensure nondiscrimination, and certify to such, should remain an important goal for all organizations. Affirmative action in employment has never been about quotas, set-asides, or targets – it has always been about non-discrimination and ensuring a level playing field for all. These principles, as clearly articulated in the text of the new Executive Order, hold true despite the recission of EO 11246.

We believe that the work we have done together with our clients for the last 40+ years has had a positive impact on the world and on businesses like yours. Workforce analytics empower businesses to make informed, data-driven decisions that strengthen workforces and help organizations plan for the future.

We know many of you will have questions about the impact of this decision and we will provide more information as we have it. We ask that you bear with us as we seek to understand more about this situation and its impact on compliance at large.