Summary

Eliminates the legal theory of disparate-impact liability for employment and housing claims by removing statutory authority to bring such claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the Fair Housing Act, and voids specific historical regulatory approvals that applied disparate-impact rules. It also includes a nonbinding policy statement urging elimination of disparate-impact liability across contexts but does not create new programs, funding, or procedural deadlines.

Key Points

• Bans disparate-impact claims under Title VII (employment discrimination) by removing the statutory basis for such suits.
• Bans disparate-impact claims under the Fair Housing Act by adding a provision that prohibits such claims and defines the term.
• Includes a nonbinding policy statement urging elimination of disparate-impact liability more broadly.
• Voids two prior Presidential approvals and related regulatory applications that had supported disparate-impact regulatory rules.
• Does not create new funding, remedies, deadlines, or affirmative obligations—it narrows the available causes of action.
• Leaves intentional-discrimination (disparate-treatment) claims intact; plaintiffs would need to prove intent rather than rely on disproportionate effects.
• Will shift enforcement strategy for agencies and private litigants away from effects-based claims toward intent-based claims or other legal theories.
• Could prompt litigation over the scope and retroactivity of the regulatory voiding and the effect on pending cases and agency rulemaking.

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