The New Rules: How Federal Contractor Certification Changed Twice in 18 Months

“VERIFY BEFORE YOU CERTIFY” — 3-MINUTE BRIEF, PART 1 OF 4 A quick-read series on how federal contractors certify nondiscrimination today. This brief: what changed, and why. Federal contractors don’t certify nondiscrimination through a single document anymore. As of 2026, compliance runs through three separate layers — and this series breaks down exactly what each…
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Part I: The New Compliance Landscape Under EO 14173

In her recent remarks, former OFCCP Director Catherine Eschbach emphasized that the compliance environment for federal contractors is undergoing a profound transformation under Executive Order 14173, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity.” She explained that this order establishes a “whole-of-government approach” to identifying and eliminating unlawful DEI practices, meaning that oversight will no longer…
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EO 11246 in Context: What Federal Contractors Need to Know About OFCCP’s Recent Invitation

The newly appointed Director of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has sent an email, June 27, 2025, inviting federal contractors to voluntarily report how they have wound down their compliance with Executive Order (EO) 11246. The letter asserts that EO 11246 encouraged discriminatory practices such as race- or sex-based quotas and implies…
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