President Donald Trump has reversed a key order made by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965, which required federal contractors to ensure there was no segregation in their workplaces. This change now allows businesses that receive government contracts to have segregated facilities, like separate dining areas for Black and white employees.
Last month, the General Services Administration (GSA) informed federal agencies that Trump’s new order no longer requires businesses receiving taxpayer-funded contracts to keep their workplaces integrated. While state and federal laws still ban segregation in all companies, including those with government contracts, experts, like Melissa Murray, a constitutional law professor at New York University, say Trump’s action sends a troubling message.
“It’s symbolic, but it’s incredibly meaningful in its symbolism,” Murray told NPR. She pointed out that the change goes against laws from the 1950s and 1960s that helped end segregation.
Murray continued, “The fact that they are now excluding those provisions from the requirements for federal contractors speaks volumes.”
Previously, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) required that businesses with government contracts must maintain integrated workplaces. One of the clauses in FAR, 52.222-21, specifically said that contractors must ensure there were no segregated areas at any of their work locations.
Under this rule, facilities like workspaces, restrooms, transportation, and dining areas were required to be integrated, meaning they couldn’t be divided based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or national origin.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) strongly criticized the move, saying Trump’s order not only rolls back decades of anti-discrimination policy but also pressures both private and public organizations to abandon efforts to fight discrimination.
“This is not only undoing decades of federal anti-discrimination policy, spanning Democratic and Republican presidential administrations alike, but also marshaling federal enforcement agencies to bully both private and government entities into abandoning legal efforts to promote equity and remedy systemic discrimination,” the ACLU said.
The ACLU added that Trump’s actions go against the long-standing expectation that companies doing business with the government uphold the highest standards to prevent discrimination.
Several government departments, including the Department of Commerce, the Department of Homeland Security, and the National Institutes of Health, have already informed their staff about the changes and are beginning to implement them.
A recent notice from the National Institutes of Health confirmed that the rules about segregated facilities and equal opportunity, under FAR clauses 52.222-21 and 52.222-26, would no longer be used when awarding contracts.
Although businesses with federal contracts may now be allowed to segregate their facilities, they are still required to follow the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination. The conflict between Trump’s executive order and existing federal laws could result in legal battles over the issue.
