President Trump’s slate of executive orders targeting diversity, equity and inclusion programs have several provisions that will apply to government contractors, including enforcement pressure if companies don’t go along.

Along with rolling back executive orders that date back to Lyndon Johnson’s presidency, the White House is also suspending enforcement activities at the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.

In a Thursday Sam.gov notice, the General Services Administration told agencies to suspend enforcement of DEI provisions in federal contracts.

Contractors also are being told not to consider race, color, sex, religion or national origin in their employment and procurement practices.

This pressure on contractors is part of the Trump administration’s desire to eliminate DEI activities throughout both the private sector and government agencies.

The executive orders encourage agency employees and contractors to report on DEI activities that violate the EOs.

The Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-based Opportunity order includes a provision that ties compliance with the orders to contractor payments. This potentially opens contractors to whistleblower claims under the False Claims Act, through which a whistleblower can get up to 30% of the monetary value of a settlement.

That order also requires agencies to identify up to nine civil compliance investigations involving companies, nonprofits and foundations with assets worth $500 million or more.

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