Cases & Developments

On December 10, the Department of Justice issued a final rule that eliminates disparate-impact liability from its regulations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The final rule implements changes directed by Executive Order 14281, “Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy” and takes effect immediately. While under the prior regulations, agencies were permitted to consider recipient policies and practices that had an alleged discriminatory effect; the new rule clarifies that Title VI only prohibits intentional discrimination. The preamble clarifies that while the rule does not preclude the use of statistical data to prove intentional discrimination, this use “materially differs from using it to impose liability for an unintentional disparate impact.”

The Health and Human Services Department (HHS) announced the termination of the Minority Biomedical Research Support Program (MBRS), which provided institutions with grants to increase the number of minority faculty, students, and investigators conducting biomedical research. The rescission is made to maintain compliance with Executive Order 14172 (Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity) and 14151 (Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing) and abide by Supreme Court precedent. The final rule becomes effective September 25, 2025. HHS wrote that MBRS must be repealed because it is contrary to the Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College as it prioritizes racial classifications in awarding federal funding.  

The Department of Labor (the Department) is collecting comments on a proposed revision of the information collection request, “Registration and Equal Employment Opportunity in Apprenticeship Programs” associated with the Department’s proposed rule, ‘‘Prohibiting Illegal Discrimination in Registered Apprenticeship Programs,’’ which has been assigned the Regulation Identifier Number (RIN) 1205–AC21 and was published in the Federal Register on July 2, 2025 (90 FR 28947). The Department’s proposed rule is intended to streamline the regulation and proposes rescission of several requirements for registered apprenticeship program sponsors, including those mandating the development and implementation of affirmative action plans and initiatives that impose “substantial administrative burdens and tend to promote illegal and divisive group-based preferences.” If finalized, the rule would also rescind the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) Form 9039, which enables an apprentice to file a complaint alleging violations of part 30 requirements, as well as Form 671 Section IIA, which allows an apprentice to voluntarily self-report their disability status. Comments are due by October 24, 2025.