On January 21, 2025, President Trump revoked Executive Order (“E.O.”) 11246, eliminating federal contractor affirmative action obligations with regard to the employment of women and minorities. Following President Trump’s revocation of those affirmative action obligations, the then-Acting Secretary of Labor Vincent Micone, instructed the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) to end all investigation and enforcement activities to include staying all pending cases, conciliation agreements, investigations, and complaints. Notably, although the now revoked E.O. 11246 did not deal with affirmative action for Vietnam Veterans and individuals with disabilities, the then-Acting Secretary went one step beyond President Trump’s revocation and paused the OFCCP’s investigation and enforcement activities related to Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (“Section 503”) and the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (“VEVRAA”).
On July 2, 2025, Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer lifted that pause, permitting the OFCCP to resume its investigation and enforcement activities relating to federal contractors’ continuing obligation to engage in affirmative action for Vietnam Veterans and individuals with disabilities. Maintaining affirmative action plans for Vietnam Veterans and individuals with disabilities is considerably less onerous than the affirmative action plans previously mandated under E.O. 11246.
For context, in 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed E.O. 11246 forbidding federal contractors from engaging in employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, and national origin. The Department of Labor (DOL) was charged with enforcing the anti-discrimination provisions of E.O. 11246, and the DOL carried out those responsibilities through the OFCCP.
The OFCCP’s enforcement responsibilities included E.O. 11246, Section 503, and VEVRAA as part of a broad affirmative action framework. As such, Section 503 mandates that federal contractors take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment qualified individuals with disabilities. Similarly, VEVRAA requires federal contractors to take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment qualified protected veterans.
While the recent pause in all OFCCP investigations created some confusion, the OFCCP has made it clear: Section 503 and VEVRAA affirmative action obligations still apply to covered employers (i.e., generally employers with federal contracts or subcontracts that are for indefinite quantities, subject to exceptions, or those that exceed $10,000 and $100,000, respectively). Section 503 and VEVRAA require covered employers to maintain plans that detail specific steps to recruit, hire, and promote qualified individuals with disabilities and protected veterans and assess the effectiveness of their outreach and recruitment efforts. Additionally, although not required under Section 503, VEVRAA requires covered employers to file annual reports that show the number of protected veterans that the reporting employer hired or employed during the reporting year. Notably, the obligations related to VEVRAA and Section 503 are far less administratively burdensome than the those under E.O. 11246, which required covered employers to attempt to maintain a workforce that, by percentage, mirrored the minority and gender composition of the local community for each type of job.
Nevertheless, federal contractors must remain vigilant in complying with Section 503 and VEVRAA. And contractors should ensure that their affirmative action plans are up-to-date and that they are actively working to meet their obligations under these important regulations. The Bennett Law Firm has decades of experience working with and defending clients with respect to their affirmative action obligations. Please contact a Bennett Law Firm attorney with any questions you have regarding your affirmative action obligations.