Trump’s DEI executive orders are no longer blocked from taking effect
Certification requirements for contractors are back in play. As we previously reported , a federal judge issued a nationwide preliminary injunction prohibiting the federal government from enforcing certain portions of President Trump’s Executive Order 14173 , “ Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity .” The preliminary injunction prevented the government from, among other things, requiring federal contractors and grantees “to agree that . . . compliance in all respects with all applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws is material to the government’s payment decisions” for purposes of the False Claims Act and “to certify that [the contractor or grantee] does not operate any program promoting DEI that violates any applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws.” A federal district judge ruled that this provision probably violated the free speech protections of the First Amendment and prohibited the government from enfo...