Set-Aside Alert analysis:

Training EO soon moot?

     President-elect Joe Biden is likely to cancel the White House’s recent controversial Executive Order (EO) banning “divisive concepts” and “race scapegoating” in all federal diversity training programs, allegedly because those ideas are “divisive” and “un-American.”

      President Trump issued the order in September to apply to all training provided by federal contractors to agencies and to their own staffs. It was accompanied by threats of harsh penalties for non-compliance.

      The Office of Personnel Management directed that all diversity trainings must be reviewed and approved before use. The Labor Dept. invited contractors to voluntarily send in their trainings for review. Penalties are to go into effect Nov. 21. The order had an immediate chilling effect, and the NAACP, US Chamber of Commerce and others strongly objected.

      Given the anti-diversity slant of the order, Biden, who supports diversity, is likely to cancel the order soon after taking office on Jan. 20.

      “I think it’s highly probable that this executive order will be rescinded in fairly short order,” Franklin Turner, a partner with law firm McCarter & English, told USA TODAY.

      Contracting attorneys agree that the EO is on shaky legal grounds. Even so, vendors may want to review their programs and be prepared during the short time in which the order is in effect. It also may be prudent to hold off on volunteering information for review by the Labor Dept.

More information:
See previous Set-Aside Alert editions -
Oct. 2: Oct. 2 front page
Oct. 16: Oct. 16 front page
Oct. 30: Oct. 30 front page http://www.sba8a.com/SAASubscribers/10-02-20/saanews.htm

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