Statement of Jocelyn Frye, President of the National Partnership for Women & Families
WASHINGTON, D.C. – April 17, 2025 – For decades, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has played a pivotal role, protecting the rights of workers employed by federal contractors and subcontractors to be free from discrimination – and infusing equal opportunity in federal contractors’ employment practices by enforcing Executive Order 11246, the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act and Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act. On his second day in office, President Trump rescinded EO 11246, and yesterday, nearly all OFCCP field offices were effectively shuttered in the latest round of cuts from Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The move is the near-final nail in the coffin to end six decades of work of proactively ensuring taxpayer dollars don’t fund discriminatory employers.
“Yesterday’s actions to implement what has amounted to an anti-civil rights DOGE mandate to cut the vast majority of OFCCP employees and shuttering of most OFCCP field offices is an assault on the civil rights of America’s workers, particularly disabled workers and veterans. Workplace discrimination continues to be an issue across every industry and sector in our economy. The dismantling of a key enforcement agency, combined with President Trump’s earlier rescission of EO 11246, sends a clear message to employers who receive taxpayer dollars that our federal government has little interest in proactively holding them accountable for ensuring equal opportunity for all workers.
“Rescinding EO 11246 and shuttering OFCCP removes critical tools for identifying and responding to systemic discrimination, making it easier for bad actors to get away with discriminatory practices that are often hard to unearth, such as pay discrimination. Without the affirmative enforcement tools historically utilized by OFCCP, workers will lose out on opportunities they deserve and pay that will help their families thrive. This will be especially true for workers from underrepresented and marginalized backgrounds.
“While these latest actions do not disturb protections from employment discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, this administration’s illegal attacks on another key agency – the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which enforces Title VII – demonstrate that it will do everything it can to undermine civil rights enforcement. Furthermore, it is unclear what will happen to disabled workers and veterans who relied on the OFCCP to enforce their rights with federal contractors pursuant to other longstanding statutory protections.
“The National Partnership has found employment for women veterans and disabled women is at an all-time high, in part due to the OFCCP’s critical role in expanding opportunity for these groups. If yesterday’s notices reflect the administration’s proposed 90% layoffs, this means a mere 50 individuals, some of whom are not investigators, will be responsible for ensuring 25,000 contracting firms who employ nearly one-fifth of the workforce are upholding the rights of disabled workers and veterans. These actions are yet another blow to the fundamental civil rights that workers and all people deserve and is a slap in the face to all who believe in the rule of law.
“Our nation’s workplaces and communities have benefitted from the OFCCP’s intentional approach to increasing employment opportunities for qualified yet underrepresented workers, including women, workers of color and workers with disabilities. In the last decade alone, the OFCCP has obtained more than $260.8 million for employees and job seekers who suffered discrimination. OFCCP also secured more than 22,600 job opportunities and salary adjustments for women, disabled people and people of color who faced discrimination on the job.
“The National Partnership will work with our allies in Congress who have committed to restoring EO 11246 and the OFCCP to undo the damage caused by the Trump administration and return full civil rights protections to workers across the country.”
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