Trump Moves to Eliminate Key Legal Mechanism for Civil Rights Enforcement

President Trump has instructed federal agencies to discontinue the use of a longstanding legal principle designed to identify discrimination against minority communities, a decision that could significantly weaken foundational civil rights protections in the United States.

Through a wide-reaching executive order, the administration has called for limiting the application of "disparate-impact liability," a crucial mechanism used for decades to enforce the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by evaluating whether policies have an unequal adverse effect on certain demographic groups.

This relatively unnoticed directive, issued alongside other orders aimed at dismantling equity-focused policies, represents the latest step in a broader campaign to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (D.E.I.) efforts from federal institutions and American life at large.

The move highlights an intensified effort not only to roll back programs that support historically marginalized populations but also to undermine the very legal frameworks established to safeguard their rights.

Dariely Rodriguez, acting co-chief counsel at a prominent civil rights advocacy organization, warned that this order threatens to dismantle the core protections of civil rights law, with potentially severe consequences for Black communities and other people of color.