Worker Policy Watch
Your source for accurate and reliable information on how federal policies are shaping workers’ rights—and what’s at stake for working people nationwide under the Trump administration.
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Trump Administration Establishes So-Called “Department of Government Efficiency”
This executive order renames and reorganizes the U.S. Digital Service as the U.S. DOGE Service, and places staff dedicated to so-called government efficiency in each agency.
Impact: While this executive order is light on details, Trump and Elon Musk (who will neither be a government employee nor confirmed appointee, who he has tapped to lead so-called “government efficiency” efforts) have pledged to radically cut federal spending and attack the federal workforce, with major implications for our society and economy. The mechanism established in this order will likely play a role in those efforts.
Trump Rescinds Biden Reforms to Make the Regulatory Process More Equitable and Accessible
The Trump administration rescinds Biden reforms to make public participation in the rulemaking process more accessible and transparent to the public and parties interested in shaping the rulemaking agenda.
Impact: The reversal changes course from Biden’s EO 14094, “Modernizing Regulatory Review,” which included provisions to strengthen public participation in the rule making process, including directing agencies to engage with interested parties when developing regulatory agendas, and ensure access by the public via meeting requests with Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA).
Trump Seeks to Halt Progress on Establishing Guardrails for Artificial Intelligence
Trump rescinded President Biden’s Executive Order 14110, “Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence.” This order established that the development and use of AI must be consistent with equity, civil rights, privacy, and civil liberties. The order directed the Department of Labor to develop a set of principles and best practices for employers for the use of artificial intelligence in the workplace, guidance for federal contractors regarding nondiscrimination in hiring, and guidance clarifying employer obligations under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Impact:
Guidance issued by the DOL as a result of the executive order remain in place for now, but rescinding this order signals that the Trump administration does not plan to center equity and civil rights in the development and deployment of artificial intelligence.
Trump Ends Initiatives Focused on AANHPI Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans
President Trump revoked President Biden’s executive orders aiming to advance equity for Hispanics, Native Americans, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders.
Impact:
As part of its work, the initiatives focused on addressing discrimination and disparities in employment opportunities.
Trump Reverses Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers for Service Contracts Biden EO
Trump reverses Biden EO that ensured skilled workers employed through federal contracts remained in their jobs even when a new contractor took over the work.
Impact: President Biden's EO was designed to avoid job displacement for workers and reduce disruption to continued service under the contracts. The federal government benefits from well-trained experienced workers and skilled workers get to remain in their job. And workers benefit from job security.
Trump Disbands White House Gender Policy Council
President Biden created the White House Gender Policy Council, which coordinated policy across the federal government to advance gender equity, including on labor and employment issues. President Trump disbanded the council by executive order.
Impact:
The council elevated gender equity issues in the White House, and ensured that gender equity was considered in policymaking decisions across agencies.
Trump Reinstates Attacks on Immigrants
Trump has reinstated his first administration’s attacks on immigrants, by directing federal agencies to prioritize deportations and threatening to pull federal funding from local jurisdictions that refuse to collaborate with federal immigration authorities.
Impact: The order begins the process of fulfilling Trump’s campaign promise to deport immigrants on a mass scale. Deportations of immigrant workers hurts their families, communities, and economies. Ramped up immigration enforcement gives unscrupulous employers even more power to exploit their workers, regardless of immigration status. And collaboration between local law enforcement and immigration enforcement reduces trust between immigrant communities and local authorities and is harmful to public safety.
Trump Rescinds Biden Policy Protecting LGBTQ People
Trump rescinded President Biden's Executive Order implementing the Supreme Court's ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County (2020), which held that federal workplace civil rights law includes protections for people on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Impact: Biden’s order directed federal agencies to strengthen policies to protect LGBTQ people - for example, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission published updated guidance on workplace harassment. Rolling back these advances puts LGBTQ people at additional risk of discrimination and harassment on the job.
Trump’s Executive Order Targets Immigrant Workers, Families, and Communities
On his first day in office, President Trump issued an executive order escalating anti-immigrant rhetoric and enforcing policies that destabilize immigrant communities. The order aims to: revoke work permits for countless immigrant workers; strip protections from sanctuary cities; unconstitutionally deny birthright citizenship to U.S.-born children post-February 2025 based on parents’ immigration status.
Impact: These measures fuel harmful and dehumanizing anti-immigrant narratives, deepen racial and economic inequities, and disrupt worker organizing, harming all workers regardless of immigration status. If fully implemented, the order could uproot 20 million immigrants, jeopardize the wellbeing of 5.1 million U.S.-born children in mixed-status families, and destabilize critical industries like agriculture, construction, and healthcare—harming local and state economies.
President Trump Nominates Keith Sonderling to be Deputy Secretary of U.S. DOL
Sonderling, former Acting Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division and Commissioner on the EEOC, was responsible for establising a wage theft amnesty program and approving an opinion letter that made it much easier to classify workers as independent contractors rather than employees. While at the EEOC, he voted against the guidance on the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and the Harassment Guidance.
Impact: A management-side lawyer by profession, Sonderling has a decidely pro-employer orientation. As the de facto Chief Operating Officer of DOL, he could influence every agency within DOL and dampen enforcement of all the laws DOL is charged with enforcing.