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On May 2, 2025, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia denied Plaintiffs’ Motion for a Preliminary Injunction in&nbsp;National Urban League et al. v. Trump, et al., 25-471, a case that seeks to halt enforcement of President Trump’s executive orders (“EOs”) related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”),&nbsp;<a href="https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2025-01953.pdf">EO 14151</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-illegal-discrimination-and-restoring-merit-based-opportunity/">EO 14173</a>, as well as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/01/30/2025-02090/defending-women-from-gender-ideology-extremism-and-restoring-biological-truth-to-the-federal">EO 14168</a>, regarding so-called “Gender Ideology.” At this point two tribunals have ruled that the DEI-related EOs should not be enjoined pending legal challenges. (The other tribunal to take this position is the U.S. Court of Appeals for the&nbsp;<a href="https://governmentcontractsnavigator.com/2025/03/20/dei-litigation-whiplash-appellate-court-allows-the-government-to-move-forward-with-challenged-dei-related-executive-orders/">Fourth Circuit</a>&nbsp;which stayed a nationwide preliminary injunction of the DEI-related EOs&nbsp;<a href="https://governmentcontractsnavigator.com/2025/02/24/preliminary-injunction-granted-related-to-dei-related-executive-orders-takeaways-for-government-contractors/">issued</a>&nbsp;by the District Court of Maryland.)

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Government contractors are particularly interested in the DEI Certification provision in Section 3(b)(iv)(A) and (B) of EO 14173, which requires each agency of the government to include two terms in every contract or grant award: one requiring the counterparty “to certify that it does not operate any programs promoting DEI that violate any applicable Federal antidiscrimination laws,” and another requiring it to agree that compliance with those laws “is material to the government’s payment decisions for purposes of” the False Claims Act (“FCA”), 31 U.S.C. § 3729(b)(4). (We have previously done a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.blankrome.com/publications/false-claims-act-liability-based-dei-program-lets-think-it-through">deep dive</a>&nbsp;on FCA liability premised on DEI programs.)

Read the full post on our&nbsp;<a href="https://governmentcontractsnavigator.com/2025/05/06/an-update-on-the-dei-certification-provision-of-executive-order-14173/">Government Contracts Navigator</a>&nbsp;blog.

An Update on the DEI Certification Provision of Executive Order 14173

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An Update on the DEI Certification Provision of Executive Order 14173

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