Proxy Season and the Administration’s New DEI Order

As part of its campaign promise to target diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and practices, the new administration issued a January 21, 2025, Executive Order entitled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” (the EO). While the new EO primarily takes aim at federal contractor DEI programs by rescinding the nondiscrimination and affirmative action obligations of the long-standing Executive Order 11246, the private sector is also a target.