Advocates for LGBT rights have long been pressing Congress and the administration for action to prohibit job discrimination on the bases of sexual orientation and gender identity. The Senate last November did pass such a bill–the Employment Nondiscrimination Act–but the House does not intend to act on it. So pressure has mounted for the President to use his “pen and phone” to take action on his own by issuing an executive order banning LGBT discrimination by federal contractors. Several weeks ago more than 200 House and Senate Democrats sent the President a letter urging such an executive order.

Early in April it seemed very possible such an executive order would be issued, as news outlets carried stories predicting that the President was on the verge of taking executive action to require federal contractors to better protect employee rights.

And so the President acted. On April 8 the White House announced that the President would sign an Executive Order “prohibiting federal contractors from retaliating against employees who choose to discuss their compensation.” The goal is to make it easier for the employees of federal contractors to discover if equal pay laws are being violated. And the White House also announced a Presidential Memorandum requiring from the Department of Labor new regulations compelling federal contractors to provide additional wage data to the government, so that unequal pay can be better detected. Earlier, in February, the President had issued another Executive Order also applying to federal contractors–increasing the minimum wage they have to pay.

So: three major recent actions by the President to set new employment conditions for federal contractors. But nothing about LGBT discrimination.

In the Sherlock Holmes story, “Silver Blaze,” the lack of a dog’s bark was a vital clue in a murder mystery. What’s the significance of the President missing all of these opportunities to advance LGBT employment non-discrimination when using his pen to take executive action with regard to federal contractors? One commentator suggests that the President hasn’t acted on the LGBT issue because he is conserving his political capital in the hope of getting action on immigration reform before the November congressional elections.

Maybe.