Segregated Facilities Ban Removed From Federal Contracts

The prohibition on segregated facilities was removed from federal contracts in early 2025, when the Trump administration revoked the executive order that anchored it and instructed agencies to strip the clause from new and existing federal contracts. Segregated workplaces are still illegal under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, so the change did not legalize segregation. What it did was end a distinct contractual obligation that federal procurement officers could enforce directly against contractors, shifting oversight to slower civil rights channels.

What the Clause Required

Federal Acquisition Regulation clause 52.222-21, “Prohibition of Segregated Facilities,” obligated federal contractors to agree that they would not maintain segregated facilities at any of their establishments and would not let employees work at locations where such facilities existed. A breach was treated as a violation of the contract’s Equal Opportunity clause.

The regulation defined “segregated facilities” broadly: waiting rooms, work areas, restrooms, wash rooms, restaurants and eating areas, time clocks, locker rooms, parking lots, drinking fountains, recreation areas, transportation, and housing provided for employees. Facilities counted as segregated whether they were separated by explicit directive or in practice, on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin, through written policies, oral policies, or employee custom. The only carve-out was for separate or single-user restrooms and dressing or sleeping areas necessary to ensure privacy between the sexes.¹

The clause had appeared in federal procurement rules for decades, going back to a 1983 Federal Register entry, and was last updated in April 2015 to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of protected characteristics.²¹

How the Removal Happened

On January 21, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order titled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” revoking Executive Order 11246, the 1965 order that had been the legal foundation for the segregated facilities clause and other equal employment provisions in federal contracts. Contractors were given 90 days to wind down compliance with the old rules.³

On February 15, 2025, the General Services Administration issued CAAC Letter 2025-01, authorizing civilian agencies to issue class deviations from the FAR to implement the new orders.⁴ A supplemental memo three days later listed the specific clauses to be dropped from federal solicitations and contracts.⁵ The Department of Defense followed on March 4, 2025, telling contracting officers not to use the clauses in new solicitations, to amend open solicitations to remove them, and to modify existing contracts unless they had fewer than six months remaining.⁶ GSA marked the affected clauses as “[Reserved]” in the regulatory text under Class Deviation CD-2025-04.⁷

The changes took effect immediately across civilian agencies without a public notice and comment period. The segregated facilities clause was one of nine provisions dropped together:

52.222-21: Prohibition of Segregated Facilities
52.222-22: Previous Contracts and Compliance Reports
52.222-23: Notice of Requirement for Affirmative Action to Ensure Equal Employment Opportunity for Construction
52.222-24: Preaward On-Site Equal Opportunity Compliance Evaluation
52.222-25: Affirmative Action Compliance
52.222-26: Equal Opportunity
52.222-27: Affirmative Action Compliance Requirements for Construction
52.222-29: Notification of Visa Denial
52.222-9: Apprentices and Trainees

A GSA spokesperson told the New York Times the existing language was “not consistent with the direction of the president.”⁸ The National Institutes of Health confirmed in a notice that the prohibition of segregated facilities and the equal opportunity clause “will not be considered when making award decisions or enforce requirements.”²

The Administration’s Rationale and the Criticism

The administration argued the segregated facilities clause was duplicative of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which independently makes segregated facilities illegal. A GSA spokesperson acknowledged that “the Civil Rights Act of 1964 must still be followed” and framed the removal as part of a streamlining effort to eliminate redundant regulatory language.² A White House spokesman described the broader effort as intended to “unleash prosperity through deregulation” and “restore merit-based opportunity.”⁹

Legal scholars disputed that framing. Melissa Murray, a constitutional law professor at New York University, called the removal “symbolic, but incredibly meaningful in its symbolism,” saying the provisions had been foundational to the federal government’s integration efforts in the 1950s and 1960s and that dropping them “speaks volumes” about the administration’s priorities.² Other experts warned of a practical enforcement gap: the clause had functioned as a direct lever, because violating it meant violating the contract itself, giving procurement officers immediate grounds for action.¹⁰

What Still Prohibits Segregation

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 continues to prohibit employers with 15 or more employees from limiting, segregating, or classifying employees in ways that deprive them of employment opportunities based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.¹¹ Title II of the same law bars discrimination in public accommodations. Both apply to federal contractors just as they apply to any other employer. No federal contractor may lawfully establish racially segregated facilities, regardless of what the contract says.

So the dispute is not about whether segregation is legal. It is about how the federal government polices compliance and how visibly it commits to integration through its own purchasing power. With the clause gone, enforcement no longer runs through procurement channels; it runs through the broader civil rights framework.

What Changed for Enforcement

Without the FAR clause, contractors no longer face contractual penalties for maintaining segregated workplaces or facilities. Employees and the government must instead pursue discrimination claims through the EEOC or the courts under Title VII, a slower and more burdensome route than a procurement action.¹⁰

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, the Labor Department agency historically responsible for enforcing equal employment requirements for federal contractors, was pulled back at the same time. On January 24, 2025, Secretary of Labor Order 03-2025 directed OFCCP to “cease and desist all investigative and enforcement activity” under the revoked Executive Order 11246. The agency administratively closed all pending compliance reviews and stopped using its scheduling list for contractor audits.¹² OFCCP kept authority to enforce Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act, both grounded in statute rather than executive order.⁵ The proposed fiscal year 2026 Department of Labor budget requested zero funding for OFCCP, proposing to transfer its remaining enforcement functions to other agencies.

Where Things Stand

As of 2026, the prohibition of segregated facilities has not been restored to federal contracts. No court has issued an order addressing the clause’s removal specifically, and no legislation reinstating it has advanced through Congress.

Litigation has focused on related pieces of the administration’s contractor policy rather than on the segregated facilities clause itself. A February 2025 preliminary injunction from the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland blocked three provisions of Executive Orders 14151 and 14173, including a certification requirement for contractors on “illegal DEI” programs. On February 6, 2026, a Fourth Circuit panel vacated that injunction, holding the plaintiffs unlikely to succeed on facial challenges while noting that as-applied challenges remain available.¹³ Neither ruling touched the revocation of Executive Order 11246 or the removal of the segregated facilities clause.¹⁴

The administration has continued to reshape contractor requirements in a different direction. On March 26, 2026, President Trump signed an executive order titled “Addressing DEI Discrimination by Federal Contractors,” requiring all federal contracts and subcontracts to include a clause prohibiting “racially discriminatory DEI activities,” defined as disparate treatment based on race or ethnicity in hiring, promotions, contracting, and program participation.¹⁵ Compliance with the new clause is material to False Claims Act liability, exposing companies with false certifications to significant financial penalties. Agencies had to include the clause in new contracts of $15,000 or more by April 27, 2026, and in existing contracts by July 24, 2026.¹⁶

The net picture: federal contracting rules no longer contain any explicit prohibition on segregated facilities, any equal opportunity clause, or any affirmative action requirements tied to Executive Order 11246. Contractors now face a new mandate focused on certifying they do not run race-based DEI programs. Title VII remains the primary legal backstop against workplace segregation and discrimination, enforced through the EEOC and the courts rather than through the contracting officer’s file.

1
Cornell Law Institute. 48 CFR 52.222-21
2
NPR. Segregation Federal Contracts FAR Regulation Trump
3
The White House. Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity
4
GSA. CAAC Letter 2025-01
5
DHS. CAAC Letter 2025-01 Supplement 1
6
Department of Defense. Class Deviation 2025-O0003
7
GSA. Class Deviation CD-2025-04
8
The New York Times. Trump Segregation
9
U.S. Congress. House Oversight Committee Document
10
Milwaukee Independent. Legal Experts Warn Civil Rights Erosion Clause Banning Segregation Removed Federal Contracts
11
EEOC. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
12
U.S. Department of Labor. OFCCP
13
Jackson Lewis. Fourth Circuit Vacates Preliminary Injunction Against Trump DEI EOs
14
BCLP Law. Nationwide Preliminary Injunction Partially Blocks Federal DEI Executive Orders
15
The White House. Addressing DEI Discrimination by Federal Contractors
16
National Women’s Law Center. The March 26, 2026 Executive Order on Federal Contractors and DEI