Biden Will Pivot DOL’s Contractor Watchdog Back to Enforcement

The Biden administration already has started to revamp a small but mighty U.S. Labor Department office that the Trump administration wanted to eliminate in 2017 and became the Trump White House’s enforcer of controversial policies on religious rights and diversity training.

The Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs enforces federal anti-discrimination laws and affirmative action obligations among federal contractors, who employ about 25% of the U.S. workforce. The agency’s diminutive budget and staff, clocking in at just over $106 million and just under 500 full-time employees, contrasts with its substantive enforcement authority.

The agency went through several ...