The DEIA executive order, Executive Order 14035 on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce, was signed on June 25, 2021, and revoked on January 20, 2025. Its strategic plans, agency DEIA offices, reporting requirements, and hiring directives are no longer in force. A separate order signed the same day directed agencies to dismantle DEIA infrastructure across the government within 60 days, and a companion order extended anti-DEI requirements to federal contractors and grant recipients. Certain disability-access statutes that EO 14035 reinforced continue to apply on their own footing.
What EO 14035 Required While It Was in Effect
EO 14035 declared it federal policy to draw the workforce from the full diversity of the country and to build workplaces where every employee could participate and advance on equal footing.1The American Presidency Project. Executive Order 14035 – Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce It covered all executive branch agencies as defined under 5 U.S.C. § 105.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 105 – Executive Agency
The order put the Director of the Office of Personnel Management and the Deputy Director for Management of the Office of Management and Budget in charge of a government-wide DEIA effort, working with the Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. They had 150 days to issue a Government-wide DEIA Strategic Plan, to be updated at least every four years. Each agency then had 120 days to submit its own plan identifying barriers to equal opportunity, setting quarterly goals, and reporting annually to the President.3Federal Register. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce
The order also pushed agencies to broaden recruitment, expand paid internships as the default entry route into federal service, review qualification standards that unnecessarily screened out candidates, and train managers on inclusive hiring. A separate section addressed accessibility, directing agencies to comply with the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 for physical spaces and with Sections 501, 504, and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act for digital tools, and telling the General Services Administration, OPM, and the Access Board to make sure federal buildings actually met the standards already on the books.1The American Presidency Project. Executive Order 14035 – Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce
How the DEIA Executive Order Was Revoked
On January 20, 2025, Executive Order 14151, “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing,” revoked EO 14035.4The White House. Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing The new order characterized DEIA programs as illegal discrimination and gave every agency head 60 days to terminate all DEI and DEIA offices and positions, including Chief Diversity Officer roles, to cancel all equity action plans and equity-related grants and contracts, and to end DEIA performance requirements for employees, contractors, and grantees.
Agencies also had to report to OMB with a full accounting of DEIA positions, programs, budgets, and expenditures as they stood on November 4, 2024, and to flag any attempts to preserve DEIA work under different labels. Contractors that had provided DEI training and grantees that had received DEIA funding since January 20, 2021, had to be identified.
OPM’s 48-Hour Shutdown Order
OPM moved the next day. A memorandum issued January 21, 2025, gave agencies until 5:00 p.m. the following day to place all DEIA office employees on paid administrative leave, take down DEIA websites and social media, withdraw documents and plans issued under EO 14035, and cancel DEIA trainings and related contracts.5Office of Personnel Management. Initial Guidance Regarding DEIA Executive Orders
By January 23, agencies had to give OPM a complete list of DEIA offices and employees. By January 31, they had to submit written plans for reduction-in-force actions affecting DEIA staff, along with a list of any position descriptions rewritten after November 5, 2024, to obscure a DEIA connection.5Office of Personnel Management. Initial Guidance Regarding DEIA Executive Orders Offices that had been operating for years had less than two days to close.
What Changed for Federal Contractors and Grantees
A companion order signed January 21, 2025, Executive Order 14173, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” reached outside the federal workforce.6The White House. Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity Every federal contract and grant award must now include two terms: one making compliance with all federal anti-discrimination laws material to the government’s payment decisions, and one requiring the recipient to certify that it does not operate any DEI programs that violate applicable federal anti-discrimination laws.7U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. NADOHE v Trump – Opinion
The practical consequence is False Claims Act exposure. A contractor or grantee that certifies compliance and is later found to have operated a prohibited DEI program can face liability. What counts as a prohibited program versus a lawful diversity effort has generated significant confusion and litigation.
Where the Courts Have Landed
Nonprofits, higher education groups, and advocacy organizations challenged the new orders quickly. The most consequential ruling came from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which in February 2026 vacated a nationwide preliminary injunction issued by a lower court. The Fourth Circuit held that the executive orders likely do not violate the Constitution, that the President has broad authority to set federal funding priorities, and that requiring grant recipients to certify compliance with anti-discrimination laws does not violate free speech, because institutions have no constitutional right to operate programs that contravene existing civil rights law.7U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. NADOHE v Trump – Opinion
A separate case in the Northern District of California, San Francisco AIDS Foundation v. Trump, produced a narrower result in June 2025. The court partially blocked enforcement of provisions directing agencies to terminate equity-related grants and contracts, along with provisions targeting programs related to gender identity, on Equal Protection, First Amendment, and vagueness grounds. That injunction applied only to the nine plaintiff organizations, not to the public generally.
As of mid-2026, no appellate court has sustained a broad injunction against the orders. The core directives requiring agencies to dismantle DEIA programs and contractors to certify compliance remain largely enforceable.
What Still Applies Despite the Revocation
Revoking an executive order cannot repeal a statute. Several disability-access laws that EO 14035 reinforced continue to bind federal agencies on their own.
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. § 794d) requires every federal department and agency to ensure that its electronic and information technology is accessible to employees with disabilities and to members of the public seeking government information or services.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 794d – Electronic and Information Technology This covers websites, software, remote access tools, digital documents, and training modules. When full compliance would impose an undue burden, the agency must still provide access through alternative means.9Section508.gov. 29 USC 794d – Electronic and Information Technology
The Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 requires that facilities designed, built, altered, or leased with federal funds meet accessibility standards issued by the U.S. Access Board. Employees who encounter barriers in federal buildings can file complaints directly with the Access Board.
Reasonable accommodation duties under Sections 501 and 504 of the Rehabilitation Act also remain in place. Federal employers must still provide accommodations that let employees with disabilities perform their jobs, and agencies cannot eliminate those obligations by closing a DEIA office.