Putting an end to the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs

The immortality of federal programs no longer seems to be a certainty. A particularly welcome instance of a federal program drawing to a close is the imminent dissolution of the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP).

OFCCP imposed onerous affirmative action requirements on federal contractors and enforced them with a heavy hand. It did so under the spurious authority of an executive order President Lyndon B. Johnson issued. President Johnson had no statutory authority to empower such an entity, as I discuss in a study released today, ‘Contradictory to Our Country’s Laws’ Putting an end to the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. In a return to the rule of law, President Trump revoked Johnson’s order on January 21, 2025.

The Department of Labor is accepting comments on proposed regulations to implement the withdrawal of OFCCP’s authority over federal contractors and to modify the regulations governing its remaining functions. I submitted comments on behalf of CEI supporting these proposed regulations and recommending other reforms.

If OFCCP’s remaining functions are distributed to other agencies of the Department of Labor, as I advise in the study, OFCCP can be shut down altogether.