A coalition of former U.S. Department of Labor officials are calling on federal contractors to resist pressure from the Trump administration to abandon DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) programs, according to an open letter obtained exclusively by Reuters.
The letter, signed by 10 officials who served under the Clinton, Obama, and Biden administrations, warns that recent executive actions by President Donald Trump targeting DEI initiatives are legally flawed and potentially unconstitutional. The group argues that private companies, including those holding federal contracts, are not bound by the administration’s efforts to roll back equal opportunity policies.
“Although the federal government has chosen to dismantle diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility programs in its own workplaces at its own peril, the government cannot prohibit private employers from engaging in fully lawful strategies to advance equal opportunity for all,” the letter states.
Since his return to the White House, Trump has revived efforts to curtail DEI programs across federal agencies and contractors. His administration’s stance has led some companies—including major federal contractors like Boeing and Lockheed Martin—to reduce or pause their DEI initiatives amid legal uncertainty.
The letter’s authors, many of whom held senior roles in the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), say this pull back is premature and based on misleading interpretations of civil rights laws. They argue that executive orders cannot override statutes enacted by Congress, nor can they retroactively penalize companies for adhering to lawful diversity efforts.
“Folks are concerned about what they should be doing, whether they need to back away from this work,” Pamela Coukos, a former OFCCP senior advisor and current CEO of consultancy Working IDEAL, told Reuters.
Seema Nanda, former Solicitor of Labor under President Biden and one of the signatories, said the administration’s approach aims to weaponize civil rights law. “They are attempting to turn bedrock civil rights laws on their head and use them to intimidate employers from maintaining not just lawful policies, but policies that have really helped them run their business in a positive way,” she told Reuters.
With federal contractors employing roughly one in five American workers, the letter signals a broader battle over the future of workplace equity.
