Trump Administration Quietly Removes Anti-Segregation Clause

Donald Trump signing legislation, January 2018. Photo courtesy of The White House. Public domain.

A little-noticed, quietly issued memo from the Trump administration has upended decades of precedent: federal contractors, once explicitly prohibited from maintaining segregated facilities, no longer face such restrictions. Civil rights laws remain intact, yet critics say removing the anti-segregation clause sends a symbolic message that's hard to ignore — even if the practical impact is still being debated.

What Trump Changed

President Trump's recent executive order rescinded Clause 52.222-21 in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), a clause implemented by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965 with the aim of ensuring equal treatment in government-contracted workplaces. The order barred federal contractors from maintaining segregated restaurants, restrooms, waiting areas, transportation, and other facilities for employees or service recipients.

President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the 1964 Civil Rights Act as Martin Luther King, Jr., and others, look on. Photo by Cecil Stoughton, White House Press Office. Public domain.

The new executive order affects all federal agencies, including the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Commerce, and the National Institute of Health. The agencies have already begun implementing the directive without the customary 45- to 90-day public notice or comment period. However, there has been no tangible effect on federal contractors or their employees at the time of writing.

Removing the clause follows similar executive orders by the Trump administration rescinding other diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives that had shaped federal hiring and contracting standards for decades. Around the same time, he rescinded Johnson's executive order, Trump also revoked several of Joe Biden's executive orders promoting DEI in the federal workforce, according to Axios.

Why It's Controversial

Because the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other federal laws still prohibit segregation, some analysts argue the clause was outdated or redundant since businesses must still follow federal and state laws regardless of contract language. In striking against related DEI initiatives in the past, the White House framed its actions in an official statement as a blow against rules that "threaten the safety of American men, women, and children across the Nation by diminishing the importance of individual merit, aptitude, hard work, and determination when selecting people for jobs and services in key sectors of American society, including all levels of government, and the medical, aviation, and law-enforcement communities."

At the same time, some legal experts argue that removing the clause weakens federal agencies' ability to enforce those laws proactively.

In an interview with NPR, Melissa Murray, a constitutional law professor at New York University, said, "It's symbolic, but it's incredibly meaningful in its symbolism. These provisions that required federal contractors to adhere to and comply with federal civil rights laws and to maintain integrated rather than segregated workplaces were all part of the federal government's efforts to facilitate the settlement that led to integration in the 1950s and 1960s. The fact that they are now excluding those provisions from the requirements for federal contractors, I think, speaks volumes."

Other critics see the memo as a rollback of accountability: civil rights advocates worry that the absence of the clause could open the door for bad actors to test the boundaries of the law, banking on the idea that federal agencies may now have fewer tools to hold them accountable outside of lawsuits, according to Black Enterprise.

Gesture or Genuine Change?

Whether this change has, or will have, any measurable impact may depend on whether contractors change their practices — or whether the shift prompts legal challenges. As the debate continues, the broader question remains: What role should federal contracts play in reinforcing civil rights protections — and what happens when those reinforcements are quietly removed?

References: Segregated Facilities Are No Longer Banned in Federal Contracts | Trump Administration Ends 'Segregated Facilities' Ban in Federal Contracts | Trump Administration Removes Ban on 'Segregated Facilities' in Federal Contracts | Trump Executive Order Rescinds Ban on 'Segregated' Facilities | 'Segregated Facilities' Are No Longer Banned in Federal Contracts | Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity