Following U.S. General Services Administration’s (GSA) lead, which we wrote about here, on March 4, the Department of Defense (DoD) issued a Class Deviation—Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity in Federal Contracts—directing DoD Contracting Officers (COs) to “remove, replace, and not enforce Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) solicitation provisions and contract clauses associated with Executive Order (EO) 11246, Equal Employment Opportunity.”
The Lyndon Johnson-era EO, which prohibited employment discrimination and required contractors to take affirmative action to ensure equal employment opportunity, was revoked by President Trump’s EO 14173 on January 21, 2025. We wrote about the revocation, and its implications, here.
Under the new class deviation, which is only applicable to DoD contract actions, COs are prohibited from using the solicitation provisions and contract clauses outlined below in new solicitations and contracts.
The deviation also requires COs to remove these clauses from open solicitations and to update existing contracts to exclude them per 52.222-21, Prohibition of Segregated Facilities. However, contractors are not required to amend those contracts with less than six months in performance remaining or those without options to extend.
- 52.222-22, Previous Contracts and Compliance Reports
- 52.222-23, Notice of Requirement for Affirmative Action To Ensure Equal Employment Opportunity for Construction
- 52.222-24, Preaward On-Site Equal Opportunity Compliance Evaluation.
- 52.222-25, Affirmative Action Compliance
- 52.222-26, Equal Opportunity
- 52.222-27, Affirmative Action Compliance Requirements for Construction
- 52.222-29, Notification of Visa Denial
The class deviation also makes changes to the FAR clauses below and requires COs to implement the new clauses into solicitations and contracts. These changes primarily relate to deleting language in FAR provisions requiring certain representations be made in the SAM.gov database or requiring equal employment opportunities.
The full list of changes can be viewed in Attachment 1 of the deviation.
- 52.204-8, Annual Representations and Certifications
- 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications—Commercial Products and Commercial Services
- 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders—Commercial Products and Commercial Services
- 52.213-4, Terms and Conditions—Simplified Acquisitions (Other Than Commercial Products and Commercial Services)
- 52.222-9, Apprentices and Trainees
- 52.244-6, Subcontracts for Commercial Products and Commercial Services
In addition, the Class Deviation requires COs remove the term “gender” from federal policies and documents.
The Trump administration continues to implement its executive directives as the new Class Deviation follows two other deviations issued in February which implemented three of President Trump’s executive orders.
Please contact the author if you have any questions about how the new Class Deviation or the two prior deviations will affect your business.