On July 2, Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer lifted the pause on investigations and enforcement of Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act.
Now that the pause is lifted, the OFCCP has announced that it will close all pending compliance evaluations.
Background
Days after President Trump rescinded Executive Order 11246 in January, Vincent Micone, then-Acting Secretary of Labor, ordered the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to cease its enforcement activity related to Section 503 and VEVRAA. The OFCCP then notified contractors who had open compliance evaluations that the portions relating to Executive Order 11246 were closed and that the components subject to Section 503 and VEVRAA were on hold pending further guidance.
Secretary’s Order 08-2025
Secretary Chavez-DeRemer’s Order 08-2025 lifts the enforcement suspension and allows the “OFCCP to resume activity under the Section 503 and VEVRAA program areas.” A copy of the order itself is not available, but an OFCCP announcement states that the “brief abeyance was necessary to unwind OFCCP's E.O. 11246 program areas from the Section 503 and VEVRAA areas and ensure OFCCP did not undertake any activity for which it was not authorized.”
Rather than continue to process open compliance evaluations, the OFCCP is closing all pending compliance evaluations. The OFCCP announcement outlines the agency’s next steps.
What happens next?
Pending compliance evaluations will be closed. The OFCCP is “exercising its discretion” to administratively close all pending compliance evaluations. Contractors with open compliance evaluations should expect to receive closure notices from the OFCCP.
Corporate scheduling announcement list is void. The OFCCP “will take no further action related to the scheduling list released in November 2024.” Thus, the most recent CSAL will not be used for scheduling contractors for compliance evaluations.
Individual complaints will be processed. The OFCCP will immediately resume processing complaints alleging violations of Section 503 and VEVRAA, including complaints that were filed during the pause in enforcement activity.
No more Contractor Portal certification. Since 2023, the OFCCP required contractors to certify annually in the Contractor Portal that they were in compliance with regulations requiring development of annual affirmative action plans. The OFCCP now reveals that “the Section 503 and VEVRAA affirmative action program (AAP) certification period will remain closed at this time.” The agency provides no indication regarding whether it might require certification at any point in the future.
Once the OFCCP issues the closure letters, this will most likely be the first time since the OFCCP’s inception that it has no inventory of compliance evaluations. As we have discussed, the Trump Administration aims to shutter the OFCCP, and this is yet another step in that direction.
