Us supreme court building, washington dc, usa- washington dc, united states of america

The federal government allocates roughly $800 billion a year for janitorial, landscaping, human resources and engineering services rendered. Contractors awarded the work have often been women- or minority-owned businesses, thanks to long-time policies that gave these vendors a leg up during the bidding process. 

That changed in January when President Donald Trump's executive orders required federal agencies to “excise references to DEI and DEIA principles, under whatever name they may appear, from Federal acquisition, contracting, grants, and financial assistance procedures.” 

According to Marketplace reporting, the order also:
- Bans federal contractors and sub-contractors from engaging “in workforce balancing based on race, color, sex, sexual preference, religion, or national origin.”
- Instructed offices to terminate contracts that could be viewed as equity-related.

The orders are being challenged in court, but that's little comfort for contractors who are uncertain about what's to come. Meanwhile, the Small Business Administration eluded that the move was a course correction against previous administration edicts. In an email to Marketplace, SBA stressed that the Biden administration contracting targets for small, disadvantaged businesses “unfairly tipped the scales against any small business that did not qualify as ‘disadvantaged,’ negatively impacting many qualified job creators.”

Changing the requirements for this "disadvantaged" stipulation could open the door to roughly $38 billion for a different category of contractors, say officials.

To read this full report, click here.