Trump directs agencies to curb disparate-impact enforcement

President Donald Trump signs the executive order "Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy" on April 23, 2025. The order directs federal agencies to deprioritize enforcement of statutes and regulations that use disparate-impact liability, a civil rights doctrine that can treat neutral policies as unlawful when they produce unjustified racial or other protected-class disparities. The White House says the order promotes a colorblind approach to law and opposes policies that try to rebalance outcomes by race or sex. The order also directs the Attorney General to begin repealing or amending Title VI regulations that allow disparate-impact claims and asks agencies to identify open investigations, lawsuits, consent judgments, and grants that rely on the theory. The event is notable because disparate-impact enforcement has long been one tool for challenging systemic discrimination in housing, education, employment, lending, and federally funded programs. Scaling it back changes how the federal government investigates racial inequality when decision-makers do not openly state discriminatory intent.