# Executive Order 11375 *United States executive order of 1967 that amended Executive Order 11246, the federal order on equal employment opportunity by government contractors.* Executive Order 11375 is a United States presidential order dated October 13, 1967. It is published at 32 FR 14303 and at 3 CFR, 1966–1970 Comp., p. 684. It amended Sections 202 and 203 of [[Executive Order 11246]], the 1965 order on equal employment opportunity by federal contractors and subcontractors.[^1] Section 202 contains the nondiscrimination clause that government contracting agencies were to place in every government contract.[^2] Section 203 governs the Compliance Reports that contractors and their subcontractors file.[^3] The source for the amendment in this record is the codification of Executive Order 11246 kept by the [[Office of the Federal Register]] at the [[National Archives and Records Administration]]. That codification notes Executive Order 11375 in the bracketed source lines beneath Sections 202 and 203. It prints those sections as later amended and does not set out the 1967 amending language separately. The record therefore does not establish which words Executive Order 11375 changed.[^1] On January 21, 2025, [[Executive Order 14173]] revoked Executive Order 11246. It also directed the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs within the Department of Labor to cease, among other things, holding federal contractors and subcontractors responsible for taking "affirmative action". The 2025 order does not name Executive Order 11375.[^4] ## What As codified, the Section 202 clause commits each contractor that it "will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin." It also commits the contractor to "take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, color, religion, sex or national origin."[^2] The clause has further requirements. The contractor must post notices of the clause. Its job advertisements must state that qualified applicants will be considered without regard to those characteristics. It must notify the labor unions with which it bargains. It must furnish required reports and open its books, records and accounts to the contracting agency and the Secretary of Labor. It must carry paragraphs (1) through (7) into every subcontract or purchase order unless exempted. Noncompliance may lead to cancellation, termination or suspension of the contract and to ineligibility for further government contracts.[^2] The bracketed source line records that Section 202 was amended by Executive Order 11375 and later by Executive Order 12086 of October 5, 1978.[^1] Section 203, as codified, requires each covered contractor to file Compliance Reports with the contracting agency or the Secretary of Labor. Those reports cover the practices, policies, programs and employment statistics of the contractor and each subcontractor. Bidders may be required to submit Compliance Reports before or as part of a bid. Where a contractor deals with a labor union or a referral or apprenticeship agency, the Secretary may require a signed statement from that body. The statement must declare that its practices and policies "do not discriminate on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex or national origin."[^3] Section 203 carries the same two amendment notes: Executive Order 11375 of 1967 and Executive Order 12086 of 1978.[^1] ## When - **September 24, 1965**: Executive Order 11246 was issued, at 30 FR 12319, 12935 and 3 CFR, 1964–1965 Comp., p. 339. It became effective thirty days after its date. It superseded Executive Orders 10590 (January 19, 1955), 10722 (August 5, 1957), 10925 (March 6, 1961), 11114 (June 22, 1963) and 11162 (July 28, 1964). It also abolished the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity.[^5] - **October 13, 1967**: Executive Order 11375 amended Sections 202 and 203.[^1] - **August 8, 1969**: Executive Order 11478 (34 FR 12985) superseded Part I, which covered nondiscrimination in government employment.[^5] - **October 5, 1978**: Executive Order 12086 (43 FR 46501) amended Sections 201 through 203, 205 through 207, 209 through 212, 301, 303 and 401.[^5] - **December 28, 1978**: Executive Order 12107 (44 FR 1055) amended Section 403.[^5] - **July 21, 2014**: Executive Order 13672 made *Further Amendments to Executive Order 11478, Equal Employment Opportunity in the Federal Government, and Executive Order 11246, Equal Employment Opportunity*. Executive Order 14173 later revoked it.[^6] - **January 21, 2025**: Executive Order 14173, *Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity*, was issued from the White House. It was published on January 31, 2025, at 90 FR 8633, as FR Doc. 2025–02097.[^7] It revoked Executive Order 11246. It provided that for 90 days, federal contractors "may continue to comply with the regulatory scheme in effect on January 20, 2025."[^4] The National Archives codification page was last reviewed on August 15, 2016. As of that date it shows Executive Order 11246 in force with its amendments, and it does not reflect the 2025 revocation.[^5] ## How Under the codified order, the Secretary of Labor administered and enforced Parts II and III. The Secretary could investigate contractors' employment practices and receive complaints from employees and applicants. The available sanctions were: - publishing the names of complying and noncomplying contractors or unions; - recommending that the Department of Justice bring proceedings to enforce Section 202; - recommending proceedings under [[Title VII]] of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]]; - directing the cancellation, termination or suspension of contracts; - barring further contracts with a noncomplying contractor. Before taking those steps, the Secretary was to try conference, conciliation, mediation and persuasion. No debarment order could be made without an opportunity for a hearing. The Secretary was also to notify federal agencies when a labor organization's practices appeared to violate [[Title VI]] or Title VII.[^8] Part III extended the Section 202 provisions to construction contracts paid for with federal financial assistance. Applicants for such assistance had to incorporate the clause and help enforce it.[^9] Executive Order 14173 states its own purpose in Section 1: "The purpose of this order is to ensure that it does so by ending illegal preferences and discrimination." It refers to race- and sex-based preferences adopted under the name of [[Diversity, equity, and inclusion]].[^10] Its operative outputs for contractors are recorded in Section 3(b): - revocation of Executive Order 11246; - a direction that the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs immediately cease promoting "diversity"; - a direction that it cease holding contractors and subcontractors responsible for taking "affirmative action"; - a direction that it cease allowing or encouraging workforce balancing based on race, color, sex, sexual preference, religion or national origin.[^4] Section 3(b)(iv) requires every contract or grant award to include two new terms. In the first, the counterparty agrees that its compliance with federal anti-discrimination law "is material to the government's payment decisions for purposes of section 3729(b)(4) of title 31, United States Code." In the second, it certifies that it "does not operate any programs promoting DEI that violate any applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws."[^11] Read side by side, the two documents run in opposite directions on one point. The clause in Section 202, which Executive Order 11375 amended, obligated each contractor to "take affirmative action".[^2] The 2025 order directed the enforcing office to stop holding contractors responsible for [[Affirmative action|"affirmative action"]].[^4] ## How many - **Amending orders recorded on the codification page**, as of its August 15, 2016 review: - Executive Order 11375 amended two sections.[^1] - Executive Order 12086 amended thirteen sections.[^5] - Executive Order 12107 amended one section.[^5] - Executive Order 11478 superseded Part I.[^5] - **Instruments revoked by Executive Order 14173 in Section 3**: four executive actions in Section 3(a), including Executive Order 12898 on [[Environmental justice]] and Executive Order 13672.[^6] Section 3(b)(i) revoked a fifth, Executive Order 11246.[^4] - **Party and administration**: the record does not state the issuing administration or party for Executive Order 11375 or for the later amending orders.[^1] ## Notes [^1]: National Archives, Office of the Federal Register, *Executive Order 11246—Equal employment opportunity* (codification page, last reviewed August 15, 2016) — bracketed source lines under Sections 202 and 203: "amended by Executive Order 11375 of Oct. 13, 1967, 32 FR 14303, 3 CFR, 1966-1970 Comp., p. 684" and by Executive Order 12086 of Oct. 5, 1978. https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/11246.html [^2]: National Archives, Office of the Federal Register, *Executive Order 11246—Equal employment opportunity* (codification page, last reviewed August 15, 2016) — text of Section 202, the contract clause, paragraphs (1)–(7). https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/11246.html [^3]: National Archives, Office of the Federal Register, *Executive Order 11246—Equal employment opportunity* (codification page, last reviewed August 15, 2016) — text of Section 203(a)–(d), Compliance Reports. https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/11246.html [^4]: The White House, *Executive Order 14173 of January 21, 2025, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity*, 90 FR 8633 (Jan. 31, 2025), Sec. 3(b)(i)–(ii) — revokes Executive Order 11246, sets the 90-day transition, and directs the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to cease specified activities. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-01-31/pdf/2025-02097.pdf [^5]: National Archives, Office of the Federal Register, *Executive Order 11246—Equal employment opportunity* (codification page, last reviewed August 15, 2016) — Source line (30 FR 12319, 12935); Part I note (Executive Order 11478); Secs. 403 and 405; bracketed amendment lines for Executive Orders 12086 and 12107; page review date. https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/11246.html [^6]: The White House, *Executive Order 14173 of January 21, 2025, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity*, 90 FR 8633–8634 (Jan. 31, 2025), Sec. 3(a) — lists four revoked executive actions, including Executive Orders 12898 and 13672. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-01-31/pdf/2025-02097.pdf [^7]: The White House, *Executive Order 14173 of January 21, 2025, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity*, Federal Register Vol. 90, No. 20 (Jan. 31, 2025), pp. 8633–8636 — signing date, publication date, and FR Doc. 2025–02097. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-01-31/pdf/2025-02097.pdf [^8]: National Archives, Office of the Federal Register, *Executive Order 11246—Equal employment opportunity* (codification page, last reviewed August 15, 2016) — Secs. 201 and 205–212, the Secretary of Labor's enforcement powers, hearings and sanctions. https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/11246.html [^9]: National Archives, Office of the Federal Register, *Executive Order 11246—Equal employment opportunity* (codification page, last reviewed August 15, 2016) — Part III, Secs. 301–303, federally assisted construction contracts. https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/11246.html [^10]: The White House, *Executive Order 14173 of January 21, 2025, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity*, 90 FR 8633 (Jan. 31, 2025), Sec. 1 — the order's stated purpose. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-01-31/pdf/2025-02097.pdf [^11]: The White House, *Executive Order 14173 of January 21, 2025, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity*, 90 FR 8634 (Jan. 31, 2025), Sec. 3(b)(iv) — the contract and grant terms on materiality and the DEI certification. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-01-31/pdf/2025-02097.pdf