Each week, Liebert Cassidy Whitmore provides a summary of newly issued Executive Orders and other significant Presidential and federal actions that have a foreseeable impact on governance, compliance, and operational policies for California employers. The summaries below outline the key provisions of each action, along with our brief analysis of their potential implications for municipal agencies, school districts, nonprofits, and private schools.
Withdrawal of Federal Funding Freeze (January 29, 2025)
On January 29, 2025, the President’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memo rescinding its January 27, 2025 memo, which stated that all federal agencies must temporarily pause grant, loan, or federal financial assistance that may be implicated by the President’s Executive Orders. Read LCW’s special bulletin about the OMB memos here.
Executive Order: Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation (January 31, 2025)
On January 31, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order titled “Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation,” designed to stimulate economic growth by reducing federal regulatory burdens.
The Order mandates that for every new regulation that a federal agency introduces, the agency must identify at least ten existing regulations for repeal. Similarly, the Order directs that any incremental costs associated with new federal agency regulations shall be offset by the elimination of existing costs associated with at least 10 prior regulations. This “10-to-1” ratio is meant to ensure that the total incremental cost of all new regulations in fiscal year 2025 is significantly less than zero, in order to achieve a net decrease in regulatory costs.
This Order does not appear to have an immediate impact on employers in California. The Order will inform future regulatory activity by federal agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), and other agencies that enforce rules that apply to employers. LCW will continue to monitor federal regulatory activity that impacts employers in California.
Executive Order: Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports (February 5, 2025)
On February 5, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) titled “Keeping Men out of Women’s Sports,” which generally seeks to restrict participation in women’s sports to individuals who were assigned female at birth.
The Order announces that it is “the policy of the United States to rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities” and “to oppose male competitive participation in women’s sports more broadly.” The Order adopts the definitions in Executive Order 14168 of January 20, 2025 (Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government), which defines “female” as “a person belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces the large reproductive cell” and “male” as “a person belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces the small reproductive cell.”
The Order specifically directs the Secretary of Education to prioritize Title IX enforcement actions against educational institutions (including athletic associations composed of or governed by such institutions) that “deny female students an equal opportunity to participate in sports and athletic events by requiring them, in the women’s category, to compete with or against or to appear unclothed before males.”
Of relevance to public agencies, the Order directs all executive departments and agencies to review grants to “educational programs” and, where appropriate, rescind funding to programs that fail to comply with the policy established in this order.
The Order also contains directives pertaining to major athletic organizations and governing bodies, as well as immigration policy related to athletes international rules governing sports competition.
The Order refers to both “educational institutions” and “educational programs” without defining either term. It is not clear whether any aspect of the Order applies to the operations of municipal agencies other than school districts and educational institutions receiving federal funds. However, the earlier Executive Order 14168 contains a broader provision that directs agencies to ensure federal grant funds are not used to “promote gender ideology.” LCW recommends that all other agencies review any athletic participation policies—for example, policies related to a Parks and Recreation Department sports program—for compliance with this Order.
On February 5, 2025, Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a memorandum to all Department of Justice (DOJ) employees announcing that the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division will investigate, eliminate, and penalize illegal diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) programs and activities in the private sector and in educational institutions that receive federal funds. To that end, the memo directs the Civil Rights Division to prepare a report that includes, “key sectors of concern within the [DOJ’s] jurisdiction,” “the most egregious and discriminatory DEI and DEIA practitioners in each sector of concern,” and a deterrence plan, among other information.
This policy memo builds upon President Trump’s Executive Order 14173, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” issued on January 21, 2025, which effectively prohibited federal government agencies, contractors, and federal grant recipients from instituting policies that allow for race- or sex-based preferences and specifically disapproved of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices.
The memo clarifies that its directives do not prohibit educational, cultural, or historical observances-such as Black History Month, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, or similar events that are celebratory or symbolic in nature.
The DOJ memo purports to apply only to the private sector and in educational institutions that receive federal funds like public schools and colleges. It remains to be seen whether the DOJ will apply a similar enforcement approach to the activities of state and local agencies. LCW will continue to monitor developments.
Department of Justice Memorandum: Sanctuary Jurisdiction Directives (February 5, 2025)
On February 5, 2025, Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a memorandum to all DOJ employees announcing that the DOJ “will ensure that, consistent with the law, ‘sanctuary jurisdictions’ do not receive access to Federal funds from the Department.”
Accordingly, the DOJ has frozen the distribution of all funds to “sanctuary cities” until it completes further review of how recipients are using the funds. The memo directs the Associate Attorney General to compile a list of Department grants related to information sharing between state and local jurisdictions and federal immigration authorities within 30 days of the memo.
The memo also orders a 60-day pause in all DOJ grants or contracts to non-governmental organizations that “support or provide services to illegal or removable aliens.” The DOJ will require such non-governmental organizations to report whether they used DOJ funds to provide funds or services to “removable or illegal aliens,” among other reporting requirements. Upon review of the reports, the DOJ will determine whether to terminate any funding or agreements with these non-governmental organizations.
The DOJ memo impacts funding to jurisdictions in California with a “sanctuary city” designation or other restriction on local participation in federal immigration enforcement. It appears likely that the 60-day pause in funding for non-governmental organizations will impact public agencies that contract with non-governmental organizations to provide resources to immigrants. LCW will continue to monitor DOJ activity in this area.
Executive Order: Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias (February 6, 2025)
On February 6, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order titled “Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias,” aiming to protect religious freedoms and address perceived governmental discrimination against Christians. The Order establishes a Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias comprised of the heads of several executive agencies.
The Order directs the Task Force to review the activities of all executive departments and agencies over the course of the previous presidential administration in order to identify regulations or practices that may be interpreted as discriminatory toward Christians. The Task Force will also develop strategies and recommendations to the President regarding measures to protect religious liberties.
This Order does not appear to have any immediate impact on employers in California. In the future, the Task Force’s work may lead to modifications of federal grant programs or agency regulations that the Task Force deems anti-Christian or inadequately protective of religious freedom. LCW will continue to monitor the policy and regulatory changes that emerge from the Task Force.
If you have any questions about the above Presidential actions, please contact our Los Angeles, San Francisco, Fresno, San Diego, or Sacramento offices.