Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute Rolls Out Executive Order Tracking

The second Trump administration hit the ground running in its first few days, issuing dozens of executive orders on myriad topics ranging from Alaskan oil drilling to withdrawing from the World Health Organization, and repealing numerous others. Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute (WPI) is tracking all executive orders issued by the White House here. Below are summaries of some critical actions the administration has taken relating to labor and employment in its earliest days.

Immigration. On the first day of his new term, the president issued a series of executive orders relating to immigration, including orders relating to the vetting and screening of immigrant and nonimmigrant visa holders, and enhancing enforcement priorities relating to undocumented immigrants currently in the United States. Our detailed analysis of actions to date relating to immigration policy may be found here. Equally important, given the emphasis the president put on immigration during his campaign, we expect that the new administration will continue to engage in high-profile enforcement actions (“crackdowns”), including potentially those in worksites, in the days and weeks to come.

Affirmative Action by Government Contractors. On January 21, 2025, the president issued a far-reaching order relating to equal employment in government contracting, repealing the 1965 executive order that first established affirmative action requirements for government contractors (while the rescission of this order relieves government contractors from maintaining affirmative action programs for women and minorities, it does not affect a contractor’s affirmative action obligations with respect to disability and veterans status). More broadly, the order directs the attorney general and relevant federal agencies to enforce existing civil rights laws against potentially unlawful IE&D programs, as well as identify up to nine private-sector employers (including corporations, non-profits, foundations, and institutes of higher education) for potential “civil compliance investigations.” The details of what form these “investigations” might take remains unclear.

Inclusion, Equity, and Diversity (IE&D) Programs. In addition to the repeal of Executive Order 11246 discussed above, President Trump issued a number of orders directly relating to IE&D programs generally and repealed a number of earlier executive orders relating to this topic. Littler’s analysis of key IE&D actions taken to date may be found here. We expect further developments in this area and employers are apprised to consider reviewing materials and programs relating to IE&D with the assistance of counsel.

Government Contracting “Right of First Refusal” of Employment. The White House rescinded Executive Order 14055, a Biden-era executive order (which followed on a repealed Obama-era order) which effectively required a government contractor taking over a contract to offer a “right of first refusal” of employment to its predecessor’s employees. As a practical matter, this means that federal contractors may now hire their own employees without first offering employment to any predecessor contractor’s employees.

While the pace may slow a bit, we expect to continue to see significant activity with respect to executive orders and other actions in the weeks and months to come. Littler’s WPI will keep readers apprised of relevant developments.