In one of his first actions in office, President Biden issued an Executive Order (EO) repealing President Trump’s EO 13950, entitled “Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping.” As we covered in our October bulletin, the Trump-era EO 13950 banned the federal government and federal contractors from including topics in their workplace diversity training that covered certain “divisive concepts” as set forth in the EO.

This action by President Biden was included in his EO on “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government,” which was issued on Jan. 20, 2021, during his first afternoon in office. Section 10 of this EO revokes EO 13950, and calls for agencies to review any actions that arose out of said order, and to suspend, revise, or rescind any such actions. President Biden’s EO also explicitly states that agencies should specifically consider any actions taken to terminate or restrict contracts or grants pursuant to EO 13950.

Prior to President Biden’s repeal of EO 13950, multiple groups, including the NAACP and a coalition of LGBTQ groups had sued to block its effectiveness in federal court. The LGBTQ coalition won an injunction in late December temporarily blocking enforcement of EO 13950 on First Amendment grounds nationwide.