Rep. Smith Hosted Roundtable on the Impact on Minority Contractors due to Trump’s Executive Orders
WASHINGTON -- Last Friday, Representative Smith (D-Wash.) hosted a roundtable discussion of many minority contractors across the Ninth District.
On January 21, 2025, Donald Trump revoked Executive Order 11246, a civil rights-era policy to ensure equality in federal contracting and employment, eliminating safeguards against discrimination, workforce diversity, race-neutral policies, and improved federal oversight.
"President Trump’s executive order revoking EO 11246, under the guise of promoting ‘meritocracy,’ does the exact opposite—it reinstates a system where federal contracts disproportionately favor one group while ignoring the talents and capabilities of countless qualified minority-owned businesses," Rep. Smith said. "Before affirmative action, contracts were awarded almost exclusively to white-owned firms, not because of superior merit, but because systemic barriers shut out others from competing. EO 11246 was designed to correct that imbalance by ensuring that all businesses—regardless of race—had a fair shot. Dismantling these protections isn’t about fairness; it’s about restoring an exclusionary status quo that dismisses the contributions and potential of diverse entrepreneurs."
Rep. Smith has hosted and will continue to host procurement workshops, advocated to federal agencies that supply necessary resources to disadvantaged businesses, and allowed DBEs and SDBs to have fair access to government-funded programs. Trump’s executive order underpins all these initiatives, hurting our economy locally and nationally. Trump’s new policy widens economic gaps between disadvantaged groups and increases barriers for DBEs and SDBs.
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