Addressing DEI Discrimination by Federal Contractors

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Presidential Documents

Federal Register
Vol. 91, No. 61
Tuesday, March 31, 2026

Title 3—

Executive Order 14398 of March 26, 2026

The President

Addressing DEI Discrimination by Federal Contractors
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act (40 U.S.C. 101 et seq.) (FPASA), it is hereby ordered:
Section 1. Policy and Purpose. My Administration has made significant progress in ending racial discrimination in American society, including socalled ‘‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’’ (DEI) activities in which employees, applicants, or contracting parties are treated differently, separated, or singled out based on their race or ethnicity, rather than treated equally and objectively based on their merit and without regard to their immutable characteristics. Despite this progress, some entities continue to engage in DEI activities and often attempt to conceal their efforts to do so.
DEI activities are not only unethical and often illegal, but also cause inefficiencies, waste, and abuse within entities that engage in such practices. Specifically, DEI activities impose artificial costs in hiring, promotion, and operations by precluding implementation of merit-based principles; creating excessive workforce turnover by elevating immutable characteristics over job performance; and jeopardizing the sort of employee collaboration and problem-solving that is essential to fostering efficient and high-quality work. DEI activities also create unnecessary costs by reducing the pool of available labor by artificially limiting companies to hiring or promoting certain individuals, suppliers, or intermediaries based on their race or ethnicity. These costs are inevitably passed on to the Federal Government when it contracts with companies who engage in racially discriminatory DEI activities, or who use subcontractors who do so.

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It is therefore the policy of the United States to promote economy and efficiency in Federal contracting by preventing racial discrimination. Sec. 2. Definitions. (a) For the purposes of this order, ‘‘racially discriminatory DEI activities’’ means disparate treatment based on race or ethnicity in the recruitment, employment (e.g., hiring, promotions), contracting (e.g., vendor agreements), program participation, or allocation or deployment of an entity’s resources.
(b) ‘‘Program participation’’ means membership or participation in, or