President decrees end of DEI offices, roles and initiatives within 60 days and repeals civil rights-era equity policies
All US federal employees working in diversity offices must be put on paid leave by Wednesday evening, the Trump administration has ordered, after instructing government agencies to shut down the programs.
“Send a notification to all employees of DEIA (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility) offices that they are being placed on paid administrative leave effective immediately as the agency takes steps to close/end all DEIA initiatives, offices and programs,” said a US office of personnel management memo.
The memo, confirmed by the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, directed all department and agency heads to send workers notice by 5pm on Wednesday. It was sent after Trump signed two executive orders targeting DEI programs within the federal government.
The first executive order, entitled “ending radical and wasteful government DEI programs and preferencing”, overturned executive actions from Joe Biden in 2021 that promoted DEI programs within the federal government.
Under this order, the White House said it will scrap all DEI offices, positions, plans, actions, initiatives or programs within 60 days. Since the executive order was signed, various equity plans have been taken down from federal websites, including that of the White House.
“The Biden administration forced illegal and immoral discrimination programs, going by the name ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’ (DEI), into virtually all aspects of the federal government, in areas ranging from airline safety to the military,” claimed the executive order.
On Tuesday night, Trump signed another executive order that overturned longstanding equity policies within the federal government, including one that was first signed by Lyndon B Johnson during the civil rights era that established equal opportunity requirements for contractors.
In the order, the White House accused “critical and influential institutions of American society”, including “major corporations, financial institutions, the medical industry, large commercial airlines, law enforcement agencies and institutions of higher education” of adopting “dangerous, demeaning and immoral race- and sex-based preferences under the guise of so-called ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’.”
Over the last few years, DEI has become a flashpoint in the so-called “culture wars”, with conservatives often arguing that policies are actually discriminatory toward groups that historically have dominated the workplace, particularly white Americans.
After the supreme court overturned affirmative action in higher education in 2023, conservative groups have become emboldened to embark on legal attacks against employers for DEI policies. During his presidential campaign, Trump echoed conservative attacks against DEI, claiming there is “a definite anti-white feeling in this country”.
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The president has so far not taken any direct action to curtail DEI practices and policies in the private sector. In September 2020, near the end of his first term, Trump issued an executive order that banned DEI training within all private government contractors. But the order was soon stopped by a federal judge on first amendment grounds, and was never argued over in court, as Biden overturned it as soon as he entered office.
Tuesday’s executive order explicitly says that the federal government will no longer promote DEI to its contractors, but stopped short of banning it, likely because of potential legal issues. But it directed the attorney general’s office to submit recommendations for how the White House can “encourage the private sector to end illegal discrimination and preferences, including DEI”, suggesting that Trump and his advisers are looking for ways they can legally diminish DEI in the private sector.
Agence France-Presse contributed reporting
