Justice Department Ends Use of Race-Based Disparate Impact Rule in Civil Rights Enforcement

The DOJ has finalized a rule eliminating “disparate impact” liability from Title VI enforcement, refocusing civil rights policy on intentional discrimination rather than statistical outcomes.

By yourNEWS Media Newsroom

The Justice Department announced Tuesday that it is eliminating the decades-old “disparate impact” standard from its civil rights enforcement regulations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, marking a major policy shift toward race-neutral enforcement.

The final rule, detailed in a Justice Department release, removes provisions that allowed federal agencies to penalize recipients of federal funds for policies that disproportionately affect certain racial or ethnic groups—even in the absence of intentional bias.

“For decades, the Justice Department has used disparate-impact liability to undermine the constitutional principle that all Americans must be treated equally under the law,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “No longer. This Department of Justice is eliminating its regulations that for far too long required recipients of federal funding to make decisions based on race.”

The revised rule affirms that Title VI will continue to prohibit intentional discrimination based on race, color, or national origin, but it will no longer support lawsuits or enforcement actions based solely on statistical disparities. The department said the update “restores equal protection” by ensuring federal policy aligns with constitutional standards.

The rule follows an April directive from President Donald Trump, who signed an executive order requiring all federal agencies to end the use of disparate-impact theory across civil rights statutes, including Title VII employment law.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon, who heads the Civil Rights Division, said the change ensures civil rights enforcement focuses on provable discrimination rather than on outcomes shaped by factors beyond intent. “The prior ‘disparate impact’ regulations encouraged people to file lawsuits challenging racially neutral policies without evidence of intentional discrimination,” Dhillon said. “We are returning to a system that enforces equal protection, not race or sex-based quotas.”

Nicholas Schilling, Chief of Staff and Supervisory Official for the Office of Legal Policy, said the old framework had “for over 50 years produced the very discrimination barred by the 1964 law,” and added that the revision “reaffirms Congress’ intent to evaluate Americans by merit.”

The DOJ noted that the federal government added the disparate-impact rule in 1973, nearly a decade after the Civil Rights Act was enacted, and that it was not part of the original statute. Officials said the prior rule had been blocked in at least one state and had created confusion and costly compliance burdens for states, local governments, nonprofits, and private entities receiving federal funds.

The department said the updated rule “reflects its reading of Title VI and aligns with Supreme Court treatment of the statute over the past two decades,” emphasizing that removing the disparate-impact language will promote consistency and “restore confidence in civil-rights law by aligning enforcement with the Constitution.”