President Donald Trump started his second administration by signing dozens of executive orders aimed at reshaping the U.S. government.

The orders cover issues ranging from trade, immigration, and U.S. foreign aid to demographic diversity, civil rights, and the hiring of federal workers. Some have an immediate policy impact, while others appear to be more symbolic. Federal lawsuits have already been filed challenging some of the orders.

Across social media, many people claim one of Trump’s orders revokes a 60-year-old executive order that established anti-discrimination rules for federal contractors. People employed by federal contractors make up about one-fifth of the entire U.S. workforce, according to the Department of Labor.

Some of the posts suggest that revoking the order also repeals the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 — laws that protect against employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, religion, age, disability, and marital or familial status.

Multiple VERIFY readers, including Barbara, Bryan, and Terran, have asked us to look into these claims. Here’s what we can VERIFY.

Does Trump’s order repeal existing anti-discrimination employment laws?

No, Trump’s order does not repeal existing anti-discrimination employment laws.

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President Donald Trump revoked Executive Order 11246, which established anti-discrimination rules for federal contractors in 1965. However, this action does not repeal the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 because both acts were passed by Congress and signed into law.

On Jan. 21, 2025, Trump issued an executive order titled “Ending Illegal Discrimination And Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity.” It specifically targets what it calls “illegal discrimination in the federal government” and terminates multiple diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies that span several decades.

A fact sheet published by the White House says Trump’s order “protects the civil rights of all Americans and expands individual opportunity by terminating radical DEI preferencing in federal contracting and directing federal agencies to relentlessly combat private sector discrimination.”

President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Executive Order 11246 on Sept. 24, 1965, a year after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 became law.

Executive Order 11246 required affirmative action and prohibited employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin by organizations receiving federal contracts and subcontracts, according to the Department of Labor. It was one of many laws and executive orders that established workplace protections for American workers across several decades.

Trump’s order to revoke Executive Order 11246 does not repeal the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972. That’s because anti-discrimination employment protections established by these acts cannot be overturned by executive orders since they were passed by Congress and signed into law.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which was also signed into law by Johnson, prohibited discrimination in public places, provided for the integration of schools and other public facilities, and made employment discrimination illegal, according to the National Archives and Records Administration. Title VII of the act created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to implement the law.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 amended the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by expanding protections against workplace discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin. The act also gave the EEOC greater power to enforce these laws against violators.

“[Trump’s] EO does not change existing law regarding discrimination in contracting, employment, or otherwise,” says Jackson Lewis P.C., a national law firm specializing in employment and labor law. “Rather, it signals the Administration’s focus on targeting organizations that violate existing anti-discrimination laws in their employment practices.”

Under Executive Order 11246, federal contractors were required to develop detailed affirmative action programs. The Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) was authorized to enforce the order and hold contractors responsible for complying with the measure.

According to Thompson Hine, Trump’s order ends the OFCCP’s enforcement authority and eliminates affirmative action requirements for federal contractors.

But Jackson Lewis says the order does not eliminate the OFCCP as an agency or “take away any contractor non-discrimination obligations.”

“For all employers, whether they are federal contractors, the EO does not change the law relating to employment discrimination. It does, however, signal increased investigation and enforcement activities relating to DEI programs that utilize discriminatory preferences,” Jackson Lewis explains.

In response to Trump’s rescission of Executive Order 11246, the EEOC’s three Democratic members, Charlotte Burrows, Jocelyn Samuels and Kalpana Kotaga, posted a joint statement on X that said revoking the 1965 order “ignores the day-to-day reality of discrimination for many working people in this country.”

“Common sense practices, such as monitoring hiring and promotions decisions, skills-based hiring, standardized interview practices, and robust recruitment, remain lawful and important ways to promote the goals of our nation’s laws and founding principles. These and other diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility practices seek to include all workers according to their talents and abilities…. Barring adoption of these practices can only result in legal risk to employers and lost opportunities for vulnerable communities,” the statement reads, in part.

In a second statement posted on X the next day, Burrows, Samuels and Kotaga said, “We should be standing up for working Americans, not weakening their civil rights.”

The revocation of Executive Order 11246 will go into effect on April 20, 2025, which is 90 days after Trump signed his order.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.