An executive order issued by the White House in March 2026 imposes significant new requirements on federal contractors who previously were encouraged and required to maintain equal opportunity programs to remain eligible for federal contracts. Relying on the premise that diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs constitute civil rights violations, executive order 14398 (EO 14398) reverses that longstanding policy in favor of prohibiting some such programs on pain of debarment and prosecution for failure to reverse course. In this guest article, Smith Currie Oles partner Jacob Scott explains that the requirements themselves, along with the resolution of a related False Claims Act case, indicate that federal contractors face serious threats from EO 14398. See our two-part series on the 2025 Federal Approach to DEI: “Understanding the EOs and Guidance” (Aug. 27, 2025), and “Enforcement, Litigation and How to Respond” (Sep. 10, 2025).