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Information Regarding Executive Orders and Federal Agency Guidance

 

Updated February 19, 2025

The George Washington University is monitoring the many executive orders (EOs) and related guidance and memos issued by the federal government that may impact GW and higher education. With respect to actions that have the potential to affect ongoing research at GW specifically, the university is providing continual guidance on the Federal Transition Updates 2025 webpage. Below is information on a broader array of EOs, but it is not an exhaustive list. 

We understand that many in our community have raised questions and concerns about recent government actions, and it is important to note that EOs or guidance may be paused or evolve depending on agency interpretation and as legal challenges advance through the judicial system.

GW will continue to follow all applicable federal and state laws while doing everything possible to protect and support our community. This page will be updated as new information or guidance is available.

 

Antisemitism
Executive Order 14188: “Additional Measures to Combat Antisemitism”
  • This EO directs agency heads to submit a report to the President within 60 days that: (i) identifies all civil or criminal authorities within the agencies’ jurisdiction “that might be used to curb or combat anti-Semitism; and (ii) contains an inventory and analysis of all pending administrative complaints, as of the date of the report, against or involving institutions of higher education alleging civil-rights violations related to or arising from post-October 7, 2023, campus anti-Semitism.”
  • The Attorney General’s report must include “an inventory and an analysis of all court cases, as of the date of the report, against or involving institutions of higher education alleging civil-rights violations related to or arising from post-October 7, 2023, campus anti-Semitism and indicate whether the Attorney General intends to or has taken any action with respect to such matters, including filing statements of interest or intervention.” 
  • The Secretary of Education is directed to include in its report an inventory and an analysis of all Title VI complaints and administrative actions, including in K-12 education, related to anti-Semitism — pending or resolved after October 7, 2023 — within the Department’s Office for Civil Rights.
  • The Secretary of State, the Secretary of Education, and the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with each other, shall include in their reports recommendations for familiarizing institutions of higher education with the grounds for inadmissibility to receive visas or admission to the US “so that such institutions may monitor for and report activities by alien students and staff relevant to those grounds and for ensuring that such reports about aliens lead, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, to investigations and, if warranted, actions to remove such aliens.”
  • The EO also reaffirms EO 13899, issued on December 11, 2019, which among other things directed federal agencies to “consider:
    • the non-legally binding working definition of anti-Semitism adopted on May 26, 2016, by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), which states, "Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities"; and
    • the "Contemporary Examples of Anti-Semitism" identified by the IHRA, to the extent that any examples might be useful as evidence of discriminatory intent.”
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)
Department of Education Office for Civil Rights Dear Colleague Letter
  • The Office for Civil Rights in the Department of Education issued a "Dear Colleague Letter" on February 14, 2025, that sets forth its interpretation of the nondiscrimination obligations of universities and other entities that receive federal financial assistance from the United States Department of Education (which includes GW), including under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Department of Education expands the Supreme Court’s 2023 admissions decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard to a wide variety of university programs. It emphasizes that diversity is not a compelling interest and posits that programs that are race-neutral are unlawful if they are motivated by race.
  • The letter elaborates on the Department’s intent to "vigorously enforce the law" as the agency may interpret it and advises universities to: "(1) ensure that their policies and actions comply with existing civil rights law; (2) cease all efforts to circumvent prohibitions on the use of race by relying on proxies or other indirect means to accomplish such ends; and (3) cease all reliance on third-party contractors, clearinghouses, or aggregators that are being used by institutions in an effort to circumvent prohibited uses of race.”

While the university is considering any potential impacts, it is important to note that the letter also stipulates that the Department of Education is not creating new legal obligations, specifying that the “guidance does not have the force and effect of law and does not bind the public or create new legal standards.”

The university administration will continue to monitor how the Dear Colleague Letter might be applied and will provide further guidance as necessary.

Executive Order 14151: “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing”
  • This EO directs agencies to terminate all “DEI” programs, policies, and activities in the federal government.
    • The EO directs agencies to terminate “equity-related” grants or contracts, including, e.g., “federal contractors who have provided DEI training or DEI training materials to agency or department employees; and . . . Federal grantees who received Federal funding to provide or advance DEI, DEIA, or ‘environmental justice’ programs, services, or activities since January 20, 2021.”
    • The order directs agencies to terminate “all DEI or DEIA performance requirements for employees, contractors, or grantees.”
Executive Order 14173: “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity”
  • This EO directs agencies to terminate all “discriminatory and illegal preferences, mandates, policies, programs, activities, guidance, regulations, enforcement actions, consent orders, and requirements;” curtails the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs’ (OFCCP) operational authority and directs agencies to scrutinize the DEI practices of private sector employers.
  • Specifically:
    • The order directs the OFCCP to immediately cease promoting “diversity,” enforcement of "affirmative action," and "allowing or encouraging Federal contractors and subcontractors to engage in workforce balancing based on race, color, sex, sexual preference, religion, or national origin."
    • The order directs agencies to include in all contract or grant awards a provision requiring contractors to certify that they do not operate any programs promoting DEI “that violate any applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws” and that compliance with applicable federal anti-discrimination laws is material for payment.
    • The order directs federal agency heads to submit reports within 120 days identifying, in part, private companies with the most "egregious and discriminatory" DEI programs and a plan to deter DEI programs “that constitute illegal discrimination or preferences.” As part of the plan, agencies are directed to identify up to 9 potential investigations of universities with endowments over 1 billion dollars.
    • The order directs the Attorney General and the Secretary of Education to jointly issue guidance to all institutions of higher education that receive Federal funds or participate in Federal student loan assistance programs under Title IV “regarding the measure and practices required to comply with [the Supreme Court decision in] Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College.”
Related Agency Memoranda
  • The Office of Personnel Management issued a memorandum providing guidance to federal agencies on how to implement the DEI EOs within the agencies. Among other things, OPM directs agencies to “eliminate DEIA offices, policies, programs, and practices (including policies, programs, and practices outside of any DEIA offices) that unlawfully discriminate in any employment action or other term, condition, or privilege of employment, including but not limited to recruiting, interviewing, hiring, training or other professional development, internships, fellowships, promotion, retention, discipline, and separation, based on protected characteristics like race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, or pregnancy, childbirth or related medical condition.”
  • A separate memorandum from the Department of Justice also addresses DEI, setting forth its policy for “ending illegal DEI and DEIA discrimination and preferences.” 
    • It states, in part: “[T]he Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division will investigate, eliminate, and penalize illegal DEI and DEIA preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities in the private sector and in educational institutions that receive federal funds.” [...] “This memorandum is intended to encompass programs, initiatives, or policies that discriminate, exclude, or divide individuals based on race or sex. It does not prohibit educational, cultural, or historical observances—such as Black History Month, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, or similar events—that celebrate diversity, recognize historical contributions, and promote awareness without engaging in exclusion or discrimination.”
Federal Financial Assistance
  • On January 27, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a Memorandum to Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies requiring federal agencies to “identify and review all Federal financial assistance programs and supporting activities consistent with the President’s policies and requirements,” including those contained in the Executive Orders. OMB ordered agencies to temporarily pause during the review period “all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance, and other relevant agency activities that may be implicated by the executive orders, including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal.”
  • Several federal district courts have issued temporary restraining orders (TROs) blocking agency action in response to the Memorandum.. The TRO will be in effect at least until a hearing is scheduled for consideration of a preliminary injunction.
Gender Identity and Title IX
Executive Order 14168: “Defending Women from Gender Ideology and Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government”
  • This EO defines “sex” as “an individual’s immutable biological classification as either male or female” and directs federal agencies to “enforce laws governing sex-based rights, protections, opportunities, and accommodations to protect men and women as biologically distinct sexes.”
  • The order directs federal agencies to “prioritize investigations and litigation to enforce . . .the freedom to express the binary nature of sex and the right to single-sex spaces in workplaces and federally funded entities covered by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.”
  • The order also directs federal agencies to ensure that “grant funds do not promote ”gender ideology,” a term defined in the EO to mean, in part, “an ever-shifting concept of self-assessed gender identity, permitting the false claim that males can identify as and thus become women and vice versa, and requiring all institutions of society to regard this false claim as true.”
Executive Order 14187:  “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation”
  • This EO states “it is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another,” and directs each agency that provides research or education grants to medical institutions to ensure the “end of chemical and surgical mutilation of children.”
  • The EO defines “children” as an individual under 19 years of age.
  • On February 13, 2025, a U.S. District Court issued a TRO temporarily keeping federal funding in place for medical facilities that offer gender-affirming care for children.
Executive Order 14201: “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports”
  • Asserting that “many educational institutions and athletic associations have allowed men to compete in women’s sports,” this EO directs the Secretary of Education to “take all appropriate action to affirmatively protect all-female athletic opportunities and all-female locker rooms.”
  • The EO directs agencies to review grants to educational programs and “rescind funding to programs that fail to comply with the policy established in this order.”
  • The EO prioritizes enforcement actions against universities and athletic associations that require women to compete with “or to appear unclothed” before males.
Department of Education Dear Colleague Letter
  • Released in February, this letter clarifies that the Department of Education will enforce Title IX under the 2020 Title IX Rule.
  • The letter also states that the Department of Education and its Office for Civil Rights will enforce Title IX consistent with the EO “Defending Women from Gender Ideology and Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” summarized above.
International or Undocumented Individuals, Immigration

GW offers guidance and resources to the university community regarding visits by government agents for immigration related enforcement actions.

Executive Order 14161: “Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats”
  • This EO calls, in part, for various measures to enhance vetting and screening of “all aliens seeking admission to the United States, or who are already in the United States” and “determine the information needed from any country to adjudicate any visa.”
Executive Order 14159: “Protecting the American People Against Invasion”
  • This EO directs the “faithful execution of immigration laws” and orders “all appropriate action to prioritize the prosecution of criminal offenses related to the unauthorized entry or continued unauthorized presence of aliens in the United States.”

A separate directive, issued by the Department of Homeland Security, rescinded previous guidance that regarded, in part, hospitals and college campuses as “sensitive locations” with protections from immigration enforcement actions.

Executive Order 14160: “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship”
  • This EO seeks to end birthright citizenship, including in situations where an individual’s mother is lawfully but temporarily in the country. Several courts have issued TROs temporarily blocking enforcement of this EO.
Executive Order 14150: “America First Policy Directive to the Secretary of State”
  • This EO directs that the “Secretary of State shall issue guidance bringing the Department of State’s policies, programs, personnel, and operations in line with an America First foreign policy, which puts America and its interests first.” 
Research
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Proposed Changes
  • The NIH issued a notice that it would limit facilities and administration funding associated with grants, also referred to as funding for “indirect costs,” to 15%. This funding supports areas such as laboratory facilities and personnel, equipment, operations and maintenance, and reporting and accounting.
  • A temporary restraining order (TRO) has been granted by the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts that prevents federal agencies from implementing or enforcing the change. The TRO is in effect until further notice from the courts.

Leadership Messages

Resources