On May 5, the CFPB released its FY 2025 Equal Employment Opportunity Program Status Report, submitted under the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC’s) Management Directive 715 (MD-715), as well as its FY 2025 Affirmative Action Plan for the recruitment, hiring, advancement and retention of persons with disabilities under 29 C.F.R. § 1614.203.

In an accompanying letter to the EEOC’s chair, CFPB Acting Director Russell Vought stated that certain aspects of the MD-715 report conflict with: (i) Executive Order 14151, “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing”; (ii) Executive Order 14168, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government”; and (iii) Executive Order 14281, “Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy” (covered by InfoBytes here). Vought specifically pointed to questions asking whether agencies consider “gender identity” as a protected basis, whether strategic plans incorporate “diversity and inclusion principles,” and barrier analysis requirements “rooted in disparate impact theories of discrimination” as conflicting with these executive orders. The letter urges the EEOC to revise its MD-715 report to comply with the orders, and states that the Bureau “declines to respond to the aspects of the report in conflict with these Executive Orders.”

Within the report itself, the CFPB declined to respond to multiple checklist questions concerning barrier analysis, special emphasis programs, and workforce demographic tracking by race, national origin, sex, and disability status, citing the accompanying letter’s reasoning. The agency noted that consistent with Executive Order 14168, its EEO policy statement does not reference “gender identity.” It further stated that, consistent with Executive Order 14151 and Executive Order 14173, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” its strategic plan will not reference “diversity and inclusion principles.” The report further states that the Bureau “has ceased barrier analysis work consistent with Executive Order 14281.” The report closes out a prior-year action plan addressing data accuracy in new-hire demographic forms and maintains an action plan to improve the integrity of anti-harassment complaint data, with a target completion date of September 30, according to the Bureau.