Trump administration revokes diversity requirements for federal vendors

Federal Newscast

President Donald Trump revoked these requirements earlier this week in one of several orders.

Michele Sandiford

January 24, 2025 6:05 pm

< a min read

The Labor Department's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs will no longer hold vendors accountable for promoting diversity, taking affirmative action and engaging in workforce balancing based on race, color, sex, sexual preference, religion or national origin. President Donald Trump revoked these requirements earlier this week in one of several orders. Additionally, contractors must agree that they are complying with all applicable federal anti-discrimination laws and it will factor in the government’s payment decisions. The President's order also said contractors and grant recipients must certify that they do not operate any programs promoting DEI that violate any applicable federal anti-discrimination laws.
(Trump memo ending DEIA includes contractor requirements - White House)

A powerful Senator is pushing the Trump administration to take a closer look at what she calls Small Business Administration's mismanagement. The SBA's 7(a) loan program, disaster funding and IT security are all in need of serious oversight and reforms, said Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), the chairwoman of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. In a letter to President Donald Trump, Ernst laid out what she sees as serious problems across the agency. Ernst said she wants to work with the White House and Kelly Loeffler, the nominee to be SBA administrator, to right-size the agency and restore prudent decision making at the agency. Ernst encourages the administration to name a strong CIO to take steps to better protect agency systems, data and small businesses’ personal information.
(Ernst pushes Trump administration to address SBA problems - Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa))

President Donald Trump is calling on all departments and agencies to rescind AI policies and regulations created under the Biden administration. Trump repealed Biden’s AI executive order this week on the grounds it created burdensome requirements for tech companies. In his own AI executive order Trump is calling on the Office of Management and Budget to issue new agency guidance on this emerging tech.
(President Donald J. Trump takes action to enhance America’s AI leadership - White House)

Federal unions are preparing for the coming changes of President Trump’s return-to-office mandate. Multiple federal unions are pointing out that the new return-to-office memo for federal employees still says collective bargaining obligations have to be met. Unions already have contract provisions in place at many agencies that secure telework arrangements for federal employees. The unions said even with the return-to-office directive, hybrid work schedules in their contracts with agencies remain legally binding. The American Federation of Government Employees, though, said it’s prepared to file grievances in the case that any agency violates its collective bargaining agreement.
(OPM directs agencies to quickly comply with Trump’s return-to-office mandate - Federal News Network )

Backgrounds of new Pentagon appointees provide a glimpse into what the Defense Department’s priorities could be under the Trump administration. Austin Dahmer, now the deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy, and Alexander Velez-Green, the senior advisor to the undersecretary of defense for policy, have close ties with Elbridge Colby, who was tapped to lead the Pentagon’s policy shop. The group has long advocated for the Defense Department to reduce its presence in Europe to focus on the Indo-Pacific region. Under what’s dubbed a “strategy of denial,” the Defense Department would need to shift from a “capabilities-based” to a “threat-based” approach, which tailors defense planning to address specific threats.
(Possible push to reshape defense strategy under Pentagon’s new leadership - Federal News Network )

Pete Hegseth is getting closer to becoming the Secretary of Defense. The Senate voted on Thursday on a procedural measure to end debate on Hegseth’s nomination. A final vote on whether he will lead the Pentagon could come as soon as today or early Saturday. All Democrats along with two Republicans voted against advancing his nomination. 51 Republicans voted to move forward with Hegseth’s nomination despite allegations of sexual misconduct, excessive drinking and his past comments about women serving in combat roles.
(Hegseth gets closer to leading the Pentagon - U.S. Senate)

Close to 158,000 participants in the Thrift Savings Plan have accounts totaling more than one million dollars, according to the latest data from the TSP board. That puts the number of so-called TSP millionaires about 3,000 participants above what it was last fiscal quarter. TSP millionaires have, on average, been contributing to their retirement accounts for 28 years. In total, TSP millionaires make up about 2.2% of all TSP participants.
(TSP millionaires report - Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board)

The Department of Veterans Affairs said a governmentwide hiring freeze doesn’t apply to most of its health care jobs. Acting VA Secretary Todd Hunter said the department will exempt more than 300,000 Veterans Health Administration positions from the hiring freeze. That’s about three out of every four VHA jobs. Multiple individuals said they’ve had final job offers rescinded for VA health care positions since President Donald Trump ordered the hiring freeze and are not sure if the department will reverse course after issuing the memo. Former Congressman Doug Collins (R-Ga.), Trump’s pick to run the VA, didn’t make an explicit assurance to lawmakers at his confirmation hearing that the department would exempt its health care workforce from the freeze.
(VA exempts 300,000 health care positions from governmentwide hiring freeze - Federal News Network )