Labor Department Revokes Executive Order 11246, Stripping Protections for 36 Million Workers

The Trump administration revoked Executive Order 11246, a 1965 Lyndon Johnson-era order requiring federal contractors to implement affirmative action and prohibiting employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The revocation eliminated non-discrimination requirements for federal contractors employing approximately 36 million workers — roughly one-quarter of the U.S. private workforce. Civil rights groups called it the most significant rollback of workplace anti-discrimination protections in 60 years.