Is supplier diversity still required under the Trump administration?

Federal small business contracting rests on statute, and that statute has not changed. The eligibility rules and the executive orders around it have.

What is unchanged. 15 U.S.C. 644(g) still sets governmentwide goals: at least 23% of prime contract dollars to small businesses, and at least 5% to small disadvantaged businesses, 5% to women-owned small businesses, 5% to service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses and 3% to HUBZone small businesses. SBA still certifies firms for 8(a), HUBZone, WOSB/EDWOSB and VetCert through MySBA Certifications, set-aside and sole-source awards continue under FAR Part 19, and SBA still publishes an annual scorecard grading agencies against these goals.

What changed in 8(a). In Ultima Services Corp. v. USDA (E.D. Tenn. 2023), a federal court held that SBA's rebuttable presumption of social disadvantage violated equal protection and barred SBA from using it. On November 25, 2025, the Justice Department told Congress it would no longer defend the presumption. SBA's final rule, published August 11, 2026 and effective September 10, 2026, removed it from the regulation and applies to all pending applications from individually owned firms. Under 13 CFR 124.103(c), an applicant now documents that a government or private entity's action, policy or practice disfavored a group they belong to or favored other groups, then self-certifies membership and material harm. SBA says the rule has no impact on current participants. The economic limits ($850,000 net worth, $400,000 average income, $6.5 million assets) did not change.

What changed in DBE. USDOT's Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program (49 CFR part 26), which applies to federally funded highway, transit and airport work, removed its race- and sex-based presumptions by an interim final rule on October 3, 2025, and a final rule effective September 25, 2026 kept that approach. Owners now prove disadvantage individually, and state Unified Certification Programs must finish reevaluating every certified DBE by December 24, 2026, with one three-month extension possible.

What changed for federal contractors. Executive Order 14173 of January 21, 2025 revoked Executive Order 11246, the 1965 order behind federal contractor affirmative action obligations, and told the Labor Department's OFCCP to stop holding contractors to affirmative action. It also directed agencies to add contract terms requiring contractors and grantees to certify that they do not operate DEI programs that violate federal anti-discrimination laws, and to treat compliance as material to payment under the False Claims Act.

Corporate programs. Corporate supplier diversity programs are voluntary and sit outside these federal rules. Each buyer sets its own policy, so read its current supplier page and contract terms before you plan around it.

What to do. If you hold or are seeking a federal certification, use the current rules above and let SBA or your state certifier decide eligibility. If you hold DBE certification, answer your certifier's reevaluation request on time.

This page reflects federal rules as of November 2, 2026.