Establishment of the White House Gender Policy Council

Impact dates

1. Date TBD

   Annual public report to President on Strategy implementation progress

2. Date TBD

   Semi-annual agency reports to Council on Strategy implementation

3. Sep 24, 2021

   Council submits Government-wide strategy for advancing gender equity and equality to President

4. Apr 7, 2021

   Agency heads designate senior official to coordinate with Council and oversee gender equity efforts

Key directives

• Establish White House Gender Policy Council within Executive Office of the President (Sec. 2(a))
• Designate two Co-Chairs, one serving as Executive Director, plus Special Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor on Gender-Based Violence (Sec. 2(f))
• Council members must designate senior coordinating official within 30 days of order date (Sec. 2(h))
• Director of National Intelligence must designate National Intelligence Officer for Gender Equality (Sec. 2(h))
• Develop and submit Government-wide strategy within 200 days of order date (Sec. 3(a))
• Coordinate with White House Office of COVID-19 Response and COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force on pandemic gender disparities (Sec. 3(b))
• Coordinate with Domestic Policy Council on equity for underserved communities (Sec. 3(c))
• Agency heads must review programs and policies for Strategy consistency, and suspend/revise/rescind inconsistent directives (Sec. 4(a))
• USAID Administrator must review and revise/rescind 2020 Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment Policy (Sec. 4(a))
• Create National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence (Sec. 4(b))
• Lead interagency review and update of 2016 U.S. Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally (Sec. 4(b))
• Semi-annual agency reports to Council; annual public report to President (Sec. 4(c))

Who is ordered

• Secretary of State · State Department
• Secretary of the Treasury · Treasury Department
• Secretary of Defense · Department of Defense
• Attorney General · Department of Justice
• Secretary of the Interior · Interior Department
• Secretary of Agriculture · Department of Agriculture
• Secretary of Commerce · Commerce Department
• Secretary of Labor · Labor Department
• Secretary of Health and Human Services · Department of Health and Human Services
• Secretary of Housing and Urban Development · Department of Housing and Urban Development
• Secretary of Transportation · Department of Transportation
• Secretary of Energy · Department of Energy
• Secretary of Education · Education Department
• Secretary of Veterans Affairs · Department of Veterans Affairs
• Secretary of Homeland Security · Department of Homeland Security
• Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency · Environmental Protection Agency
• Director of the Office of Management and Budget · Office of Management and Budget
• United States Trade Representative · USTR
• Administrator of the Small Business Administration · SBA
• Director of National Intelligence · ODNI

Timeline

Risks & tensions

• Order explicitly subject to 'availability of appropriations,' creating funding uncertainty for Council operations and strategy implementation (Sec. 7(b))
• No enforcement mechanism for agency compliance with Strategy beyond presidential political pressure; 'to the extent permitted by law' qualifiers appear throughout
• Broad membership (36+ agencies) may create coordination challenges and bureaucratic inertia
• Definitions of 'equity' and 'underserved communities' are expansive and politically contested, potentially generating implementation disputes across administrations
• Mandatory program reviews and potential rescissions of agency policies could trigger legal challenges or congressional pushback
• Annual public reporting requirement creates accountability but also political exposure
• Order does not create legally enforceable rights, limiting judicial recourse for non-compliance (Sec. 7(c))