The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs is still open, but its status in 2026 is a fraction of what it was a year earlier: race- and gender-based affirmative action requirements for federal contractors are gone, staff has been cut by roughly 90 percent, and the agency’s remaining work is limited to disability and veterans protections under Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act. Congress kept it funded for fiscal year 2026 after the White House proposed eliminating it entirely.
What Changed in 2025
On January 21, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14173, which revoked Executive Order 11246. The 1965 Johnson-era order had been the legal foundation for OFCCP’s work for nearly sixty years, requiring federal contractors to take affirmative action on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. Contractors were given until April 21, 2025 to wind down compliance with the old regulatory scheme.1The White House. Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity
Three days later, then-Acting Secretary of Labor Vincent Micone issued Secretary’s Order 03-2025, halting all OFCCP investigative and enforcement activity tied to E.O. 11246 and placing the agency’s Section 503 and VEVRAA work in temporary abeyance.2U.S. Department of Labor. Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs By April, enforcement staff across the national office and five of six regional offices had been placed on administrative leave, and headcount fell from nearly 500 to roughly 50.3Hunton Andrews Kurth. Changes at the OFCCP: Enforcement Employees Placed on Administrative Leave Amid Federal Workforce Cuts
What Federal Contractors Still Have to Do
The disability and veterans obligations were never revoked. Companies holding federal contracts valued at $200,000 or more must continue to comply with Section 503 and VEVRAA.4Ogletree Deakins. OFCCP’s Start to 2026: Proposed Funding and a Focus on Complaints and VEVRAA Core requirements include:
- Written affirmative action programs for individuals with disabilities and protected veterans.
- Equal opportunity clauses in covered contracts.
- Mandatory job listings with appropriate state or local employment service delivery systems.
- Self-identification invitations to job applicants at the pre-offer and post-offer stages for protected veteran status.
- Adoption of a hiring benchmark for veterans.
Section 503 regulations also require contractors to maintain records of outreach and recruitment activities for three years.5U.S. Department of Labor. OFCCP FAQs – Section 503
One carve-out: Veterans Affairs Health Benefits Program providers are shielded from affirmative obligation enforcement and compliance evaluation scheduling under Section 503 and VEVRAA through May 7, 2027. Those providers remain subject to nondiscrimination requirements and to discrimination complaint investigations.2U.S. Department of Labor. Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
A June 2025 notice of proposed rulemaking suggested removing the disability self-identification solicitation and utilization goal requirements under Section 503. The comment period closed in October 2025, and the proposal was still pending. Until any final rule issues, the existing Section 503 obligations apply.
Compliance Reviews and Complaints
On July 2, 2025, OFCCP administratively closed all pending compliance reviews. The previous review format had intertwined E.O. 11246 requirements with Section 503 and VEVRAA obligations, so the entire pipeline was deemed too entangled to salvage. Reviews on the November 2024 scheduling list and earlier lists were all closed, with contractors receiving formal closure notices.6Littler Mendelson. OFCCP Officially Closes All Pending Compliance Reviews and Resumes Processing
The same day, Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer issued Secretary’s Order 08-2025, lifting the abeyance and letting OFCCP resume processing Section 503 and VEVRAA discrimination complaints, including those filed during the pause.2U.S. Department of Labor. Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs The affirmative action program certification portal remains closed while the agency revises its systems for the narrower mission.7Seyfarth Shaw. Federal Contractors Prepare for Resumed OFCCP Enforcement Under Section 503 and VEVRAA
New DEI Certification Requirements
While the old affirmative action framework was being dismantled, new contract terms were added. E.O. 14173 required agency heads to include language in every contract and grant requiring counterparties to certify they do not operate DEI programs that violate federal anti-discrimination laws, with that certification deemed material to the government’s payment decisions.1The White House. Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity
A follow-on executive order dated March 26, 2026, “Addressing DEI Discrimination by Federal Contractors,” defined “racially discriminatory DEI activities” as disparate treatment based on race or ethnicity in recruitment, hiring, promotions, vendor agreements, or resource allocation. Contractors must agree not to engage in such activities, provide records verifying compliance, and report subcontractor violations. Agencies may cancel, terminate, or suspend contracts and debar non-compliant contractors, and the Attorney General is directed to consider False Claims Act enforcement.8The White House. Addressing DEI Discrimination by Federal Contractors
EEO-1 Threshold and Pending Rescission
Because E.O. 11246 was rescinded, the special EEO-1 filing threshold for federal contractors with 50 or more employees no longer exists. Contractors now follow the standard 100-employee threshold that applies to all covered employers.9DirectEmployers. EEOC Proposes to Rescind EEO-1 Reporting Requirements
On May 14, 2026, the EEOC submitted a proposal to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs to rescind all EEO-1 through EEO-5 demographic reporting requirements. The proposal has not taken effect. Existing regulations still require EEO-1 submission by September 30 each year, and a formal rulemaking with a public comment period would have to run before any change becomes final.9DirectEmployers. EEOC Proposes to Rescind EEO-1 Reporting Requirements
Budget and What Happens Next
The administration’s fiscal year 2026 budget proposed eliminating OFCCP entirely, requesting $0 in funding and cutting all 480 full-time equivalent positions. Under that plan, VEVRAA enforcement would have moved to the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service and Section 503 enforcement to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.10U.S. Department of Labor. FY 2026 Congressional Budget Justification11U.S. Department of Labor. FY 2026 Budget in Brief
Congress rejected the proposal. A bipartisan funding agreement announced on January 20, 2026, kept OFCCP alive with $101 million, a nine percent cut from the previous year’s $111 million.12Construction Writers Cooperative. Congressional Deal Funds DOL, Rejects Plan to Eliminate OFCCP The White House may revisit the reorganization idea in its FY 2027 request. A planned reduction in force was canceled after a court injunction against mass federal layoffs, and about 155 employees who had been slated for layoff were reassigned within the department or potentially back to OFCCP.13Government Executive. Layoffs Canceled at Federal Contractor Oversight Office, Questions Remain About Employee Reassignments
For contractors, the practical read is this. Section 503 and VEVRAA obligations are live and being enforced. Race- and gender-based affirmative action plans are not required. New DEI certification and recordkeeping duties run alongside existing contracts. Whether OFCCP itself is still the enforcer a year from now depends on the next budget cycle.