Insights

February 20, 2025
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Category: Agency Enforcement

White House Restricts the Power of Independent Agencies

President Trump signed an executive order February 18 that will sharply limit the autonomy of independent federal agencies, such as the NLRB. The E.O., entitled “Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies,” seeks to control independent agencies by: Subjecting their regulatory activity and strategic plans to review by the White House Office of Management and Budget; Establishing performance standards for independent agency heads;...
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February 20, 2025
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Category: Discrimination and Harassment

GSA Directs Removal of EO 11246 Provisions From Federal Contracts and Solicitations

The General Services Administration has published a class deviation directing the removal of provisions related to Executive Order 11246 from federal contracts. President Trump rescinded E.O. 11246 by issuing E.O. 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity. A class deviation is a change in contracting policy that can be implemented more quickly than a formal revision of acquisition regulations. The...
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February 19, 2025
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Category: Agency Enforcement

EEOC Signals It Won’t Pursue Claims of Gender Identity Discrimination

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has moved to dismiss six lawsuits that it filed last year alleging gender identity discrimination against employers. Last week, the EEOC and Harmony Hospitality jointly moved to dismiss the EEOC’s case against Harmony Hospitality, which alleged that Harmony violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act by firing an employee after learning of the employee’s...
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February 18, 2025
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Category: Artificial Intelligence

Updated California Proposed AI Rules Published

California’s Civil Rights Department (CRD) has updated its proposed regulations for employers’ use of artificial intelligence (AI) and automated decision-making systems. The updated proposed rules expressly state that an employer’s failure to test AI tools for bias could be relevant to a discrimination claim. The new version of the proposed rules also removes language creating liability for AI developers and a definition of...
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February 18, 2025
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Category: Government Contracts

Defense Department To Stop Using Project Labor Agreements on Large Construction Projects

The Defense Department has published a class deviation directing the agency’s contracting officers to cease using project labor agreements (PLAs) on large construction projects, a signal that the Trump Administration may be considering reversing this Biden-era priority. PLAs are essentially pre-hire agreements that mandate the use of union labor. The use of PLAs has long been contentious, with Democratic administrations...
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February 13, 2025
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Category: Affirmative Action and Diversity

Enforcement of E.O. 14173 Begins

The Trump Administration has wasted no time in beginning to enforce Executive Order 14173, which instructs all federal agencies to enforce civil rights laws and combat illegal private sector diversity, equity, and inclusion activities. The Federal Communications Commission has launched an investigation into the DEI practices of Comcast Corporation and NBCUniversal. The FCC selected Comcast for review because of “substantial...
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February 12, 2025
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Category: Immigration

USCIS Announces FY 2026 H-1B Visa Lottery To Begin March 7

The initial registration period for the FY 2026 H-1B visa lottery will open March 7, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency has announced. Employers wanting to file H-1B visa petitions on behalf of foreign worker beneficiaries for FY 2026 (October 1, 2025—September 30, 2026) must submit an electronic H-1B lottery registration between March 7 and March 24, 2025. After...
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February 11, 2025
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Category: Executive Order

Fifth Circuit Rules Biden’s Federal Contractor Minimum Wage Increase Lawful

A federal appeals court has upheld former President Biden’s Executive Order 14026 establishing a $15.00 federal contractor hourly minimum wage and indexing it to inflation. In Texas v. Trump, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit found the increase to be within the President’s authority under the Procurement Act. The Fifth Circuit concluded that raising the minimum wage to...
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February 11, 2025
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Category: Discrimination and Harassment

The EEOC Begins To Implement President Trump’s “Defending Women” Executive Order

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has moved quickly to make changes in response to Executive Order 14168, Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government, which President Trump issued on January 20. The EEOC announced January 28 that it had: Removed the option to use “X” as a gender marker and “Mx.” as a prefix...
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February 10, 2025
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Category: Affirmative Action and Diversity

Trump Administration Faces First Legal Challenge on Pair of Diversity Executive Orders

Two of President Trump’s DEI-related executive orders are being challenged in a lawsuit from the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education. NADOHE’s lawsuit, filed February 3 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, asserts that Executive Orders 14151 and 14713 violate the Constitution’s due process and free speech protections and asks the court to declare...
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