Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy

Key claim: Executive Order 14281, signed by President Donald J. Trump on April 23, 2025 (published at 90 FR 17537), declares it U.S. policy to eliminate disparate-impact liability to the maximum degree possible as inconsistent with the Constitution and equal opportunity. It revokes specific prior presidential approvals of DOJ Title VI regulations containing disparate-impact language, directs agencies to deprioritize related enforcement, and orders reviews to repeal or amend such regulations and pending matters.

Abstract

Presidential Documents 17537Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 80 / Monday, April 28, 2025 / Presidential Documents Executive Order 14281 of April 23, 2025 Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1. Purpose. A bedrock principle of the United States is that all citizens are treated equally under the law. This principle guarantees equality of opportunity, not equal outcomes. It promises that people are treated as individuals, not components of a particular race or group. It encourages meritocracy and a colorblind society, not race- or sex-based favoritism. Adher- ence to this principle is essential to creating opportunity, encouraging achievement, and sustaining the American Dream. But a pernicious movement endangers this foundational principle, seeking to transform America’s promise of equal opportunity into a divisive pursuit of results preordained by irrelevant immutable characteristics, regardless of individual strengths, effort, or achievement. A key tool of this movement is disparate-impact liability, which holds that a near insurmountable pre- sumption of unlawful discrimination exists where there are any differences in outcomes in certain circumstances among different races, sexes, or similar groups, even if there is no facially discriminatory policy or practice or discriminatory intent involved, and even if everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed. Disparate-impact liability all but requires individuals and busi- nesses to consider race and engage in racial balancing to avoid potentially crippling legal liability. It not only undermines our national values, but also runs contrary to equal protection under the law and, therefore, violates our Constitution. On a practical level, disparate-impact liability has hindered businesses from making hiring and other employment decisions based on merit and skill, their needs, or the needs of their customers because of the specter that such a process might lead to disparate outcomes, and thus disparate-impact lawsuits. This has made it difficult, and in some cases impossible, for employers to use bona fide job-oriented evaluations when recruiting, which prevents job seekers from being paired with jobs to which their skills are most suited—in other words, it deprives them of opportunities for success. Because of disparate-impact liability, employers cannot act in th

Why this matters

Executive Order 14281, signed by President Donald J. Trump on April 23, 2025 (published at 90 FR 17537), declares it U.S. policy to eliminate disparate-impact liability to the maximum degree possible as inconsistent with the Constitution and equal opportunity. It revokes specific prior presidential approvals of DOJ Title VI regulations containing disparate-impact language, directs agencies to deprioritize related enforcement, and orders reviews to repeal or amend such regulations and pending matters.

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