Compliance Stuff

The first year of President Donald Trump’s second term proved to be a busy one. The White House issued Executive Orders on a wide range of topics, including employment, energy and natural resources, government contracting, federal regulatory oversight, and artificial intelligence. A number of these Executive Orders were challenged in court. Some of those challenges remain active, but others have been at least partially resolved. Now that the flurry of Executive Orders has slowed somewhat, business leaders can get a better sense of how to comply with this new federal guidance. The following are six areas in which the Trump Administration focused its attention in 2025---and that companies can expect to remain priorities in 2026:   Diversity, Equity & Inclusion —One of the Trump Administration’s  first executive orders , issued in January 2025, sought to end what the Administration calls “illegal” diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) and diversity, equity, inclusion, and access...

President Donald Trump’s executive orders (EOs) addressing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs among federal contractors and private-sector employers do not supersede well-established workplace anti-discrimination law. However, experts have said that organizations should review their inclusion and diversity (I&D) practices and policies to withstand new federal scrutiny.    SHRM CHRO Jim Link, SHRM-SCP, was joined by Tara Singh Param, a partner at Holland & Knight in Philadelphia, and Patricia Timmons-Goodson, the dean and chief academic officer of North Carolina Central University School of Law in Durham, N.C., during a  Feb. 26 SHRM webinar  to help employers navigate compliance with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 amid changing federal directives on I&D.   “The executive orders have introduced  substantial shifts to inclusion and diversity  within federal agencies and among federal contractors,” Link said....

  Within days of his second inauguration, President Trump issued a number of Executive Orders. While the impact of his Executive Orders will be seen with time, many employers may be left wondering how the Executive Orders addressing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (“DEI”) impact them. With these new Executive Orders, private employers [1]  are justifiably re-evaluating any action they have planned to take to move DEI forward. Private employers need to know two critical factors. First, the recently issued Executive Orders addressing DEI only cover the federal government workforce. Second, an Executive Order cannot replace or contravene statutes enacted by Congress (federal laws), state laws, or Supreme Court precedent . As such, all federal laws, state laws and Supreme Court precedent prohibiting employment discrimination remain intact and unchanged by the recent Executive Orders, and significant changes to internal DEI efforts may result in increased discrimination claims....

  Executive orders . As with many new administrations, the Trump administration is likely to begin with a flurry of executive orders. For newly inaugurated President Trump, such executive orders could be related to immigration (likely focusing on the border and travel), diversity equity and inclusion (DEI) in the federal government and federal contracting community, energy, regulatory reform, and international trade, among other topics. Agency rulemaking may be required to implement some of these executive orders, which will take time. Personnel . Confirmation hearings for judicial and agency appointments are likely to be a focus for the Senate in 2025. Because agency officials can be confirmed with a majority vote in the Senate, President Trump will have a relatively easy time getting people confirmed, though this is never a guarantee (see Julie Su and  David Weil ). “Personnel is policy” in Washington, D.C., and these officials will play an outsized role in shaping labor a...