The Trump administration quietly removed a decades-old rule requiring federal contractors to ban segregated workspaces, such as separate bathrooms, cafeterias, and other facilities based on race, gender, or national origin.

Companies that want government contracts no longer have to prove they do not separate employees in ways that would have been illegal under the old rule. If you wanted taxpayer dollars, you had to commit to equal treatment in the workplace.

A memo from the General Services Administration, which oversees federal contracts, ordered agencies like the Department of Defense to strip this clause from new and existing contracts.

Some might argue that businesses still have to follow federal anti-discrimination laws. So what is the big deal?

The problem is that removing this contract rule makes enforcement harder. Before, federal agencies had leverage—if a company violated anti-segregation rules, it could lose its government contract. Now, the government has given up that power.

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