The Trump administration took a sledgehammer to progressive diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives Tuesday night with executive orders designed to root racialist ideology out of the federal government and American institutions at large.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order overturning President Lyndon Johnson’s 1965 executive order creating race-based hiring requirements for federal contractors. Paired with that is a memo from the Office of Personnel Management placing all DEI employees on leave and shutting down DEI programs and offices.
“President Trump campaigned on ending the scourge of DEI from our federal government and returning America to a merit-based society where people are hired based on their skills, not for the color of their skin. This is another win for Americans of all races, religions, and creeds. Promises made, promises kept,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
In addition to overturning affirmative action for contractors, Trump’s executive order declares DEI illegal and advises corporations and federally funded universities to end all illegal discrimination, with DEI falling under that umbrella.
Likewise, Trump took action to rid the Federal Aviation Administration of DEI hiring practices and return the agency to a merit-based system. Trump instructed the Secretary of Transportation and FAA administrator to end preferential hiring protocols for certain demographic criteria and revoke DEI programming inside the agency.
On Monday, Trump’s first day in office, he signed executive orders directing agencies to terminate DEI programs and review employment practices to root out DEI in all its forms. He also repealed the Biden administration’s “equity” executive order for the federal workforce and other executive actions meant to advance “equity” for minority groups.
Trump’s executive actions have the potential to significantly reshape federal civil rights law and could spell the end of DEI across American institutions. Large corporations, elite universities, news organizations, and many other powerful facets of American business and culture adopted DEI during the summer 2020 Black Lives Matter riots and racial reckoning.
Over the past few years, conservatives have waged a legal and political battle against DEI that started gaining traction after the Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that race-based college admissions programs violated the 14th Amendment. Conservative groups have filed a flurry of lawsuits alleging that corporate DEI programs violate anti-discrimination laws by explicitly creating programs for people with certain racial and gender characteristics. Numerous red states have also passed legislation outlawing DEI from universities and other public institutions.
More broadly, conservatives believe DEI programs obsessively focus on people’s immutable characteristics and assign blame to certain groups, rather than prioritizing individual character and meritocracy. DEI practitioners and proponents assert that it is necessary to make up for historical injustices to support people from marginalized backgrounds and train others to hold their same views.
Prior to Trump’s resounding electoral victory this past November, several large corporations including John Deere, Tractor Supply, Ford, and Lowe’s walked back DEI initiatives following conservative pressure. The slow corporate retreat from DEI continues after the election, with McDonald’s and Meta being among the companies to abandon DEI ahead of Trump’s inauguration.
Thus far, Trump is fulfilling his promise to use the federal government to combat DEI and end illegal discrimination. To make it last, Trump will likely need support from Congress and the legal system to ensure his efforts to end DEI have a long-term impact.
James Lynch is a news writer for National Review. He previously was a reporter for the Daily Caller. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and based in the Washington, D.C. area.
Reprinted with permission from National Review – By James Lynch
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AMAC or AMAC Action.
“President Trump campaigned on ending the scourge of DEI from our government. . . .”
While DEI might sound innocuous on paper,
DEI is nothing more than a euphemism for Depravity, Enslavement and Incompetence.
The far Left is going to pitch an absolute hissy-fit, but, in reality, this is the first step in returning to COMMON SENSE.
Carefully but quickly we are seeing change we have needed for so long.
Thank God we have some sense in our government again!!!!!!!
Merit!!!!
Great! Promises made and kept.
And that, Boys and Girls, is why I hired him!!!!!! MAGA Baby!!!!!
Only one problem–they get PAID leave! Should make them do SOMETHING but DIMM union thugs wouldn’t stand for that! Go out and pick up litter; scrub the sidewalks; wash the windows!
DEI is nothing more than to keep control over the people. To keep their vote. Has nothing to do with ethnicity, gender. Al Sharpton is screaming for protests. Protests don’t put food on the table. Teaching better curriculums and continued education. Like junior colleges, trade schools would be more profitable to lift these people up than any DEI dept at any university or company. Who ever heard of the second Bank or the second Methodist church. Second national steel company. Every thing is always called First. And so it should be in business, government and most of all universities. But first we got to ramp up the K-12 education level. Maybe start with longer school days. Shorten the K-12 to K-10. Now these kids are 18-19 years old and many don’t know how to read, do math, but they can’t keep Johnny or Jane back. Really people, isn’t it better to do a year over than be a failure the rest of their lives. We should stop that the teachers have more say over our kids. Especially when they themselves are stupid. With the computers has come the dumbing down of many generations. Just look it up on your computer, ask Siri or Alexa. And with AI imitating us it will only get worse. The dumbing down of America started with O and Biden tried to finish it. I still say a persons character is more important than the color of his skin. The racism that Biden created with his DEI, you know if you don’t vote for Biden you ain’t black. He was dictating to the black people like they can’t think for themselves. No one can legislate who you have to like. Al Sharpton touted Harris day in and day out during the campaign. Then we find out he got thousands and thousands of dollars from Harris. How can we believe this man. Not for the color of his skin nor his character. And creating laws to obey to do so will only create division and resentment. Everyone is entitled to his opinion, resentment, or bias. We might not like it but it is not for us to judge. The Bishop at Trumps prayer service prior to the inauguration, was wrong to lecture from the pulpit. That was her opinion and it had no place to be political, at that moment and place. She degraded herself by degrading the office of the president of the United States of America. But after Biden it takes a while before that office is looked up to. We have a president again in the White House. The other guy was a puppet on a string for Obama to play with.
Ending historical injustices is definitely important. But to somehow attempt to “make up for them” is ridiculous. All that does is keep alive the roots of the injustices, which allows some gullible people to be influenced by them and continue them.
If the department they were working in is gone, why can’t they be fired/laid off?
Given 30 days severance, and told to go look for a real job! We don’t need more people sitting at home. How many never went back to work after Covid?? What are they doing?
DEI sounds compassionate but anytime you give preferential treatment to one group over another, isn’t that unfair? So being unfair to certain groups makes up for the unfairness of the past? strange logic.
Excellent, now it’s fair for everybody. If you know a company is continuing to do it, report them!
It’s about time! How many unqualified people hold positions that they received ONLY because of their race or gender, no matter what they may be?
Since 2011, when I earned my PhD degree, I have applied for literally hundreds of teaching positions. Of course many places didn’t have the decency to inform me they’d hired someone else, or I received a form letter. However, about a year ago I actually received a phone call from an HR department. I mentioned to them that I’d been looking a position for years. They said to me, “Dr. Cremeens, I’m going to tell you something, but if you ever mention my name I’ll deny I said it. You have three strikes against you. First, you’re White, second, you’re a male and third, you’re over 55. (now I’m 66)” So basically I was denied even the possibility of an interview because of my race, gender and age.
Boo hoo! Eliminate all that is donkey! Smells like rotten hay.
Hallelujah! Unfortunately my employer still shoves this DEI garbage down our throats. I wish President Trump could get this Division Exclusion Idiocy BS out of the non-government businesses as well.
Long overdue! Qualifications, ability, experience and Character far our rank DEI. Over the years, so many qualified people have lost good jobs and promotions due to DEI quota systems.
They should remove race from applications. If I am asked I answer the Human race.
Mentioned by others but I am reiterating – hoping someone in government reads and does something about it –
Placing government employees on LEAVE just pays them to ‘sit at home’ and CONTINUE TO DRAW PAY – these employees need to work at SOMETHING ELSE that adds value if they are getting paid – else eliminate the positions- with shortest possible time limit for reassignment to another position (if meet qualifications!) – requires them to find another position in government or leave government service.
America is coming back to her senses! I was beginning to fear that God had abandoned us! The demonic rats are going to be pooping down both pant legs.
So tell me, how am I responsible for injustices that occurred seven generations before I was born? Why are all white people supposed to be punished for what happened in the 19th Century? It’s not possible to “make up” for historical injustice by creating injustice now, and it never will be. Hiring on the basis of merit is the only way to treat all people equally.
The article says: placing all DEI employees on leave. I understood it to be PAID leave. So what good is this? It like they are all on paid vacation. They need to be FIRED!
Yes Back to merit based!
Nice start eliminating racist agenda’s. Rational president unlike the nightmare that was before him.
Success only can come from a hard work, not from the color of the skin or gonads .Anyone hired on DEI is admitting inability to get the position on ability .Results of that are around us.
It’s about time we take back America and make it right based off merit. MAGA
it is absolutely necessary to make sure that this is adhered to A S A P
Victory Hooray gone by 5P EST
I am so happy about this! Fairness. Truth. Merit. Needed for a long time.
Someone is going to complain that hiring on merit regardless of race is a bad thing.
It looks like President Trump learned from his last term that he cannot just automatically trust the people left over from a Democrat regime. Give them a chance to prove their worth in a job but pay attention and watch out for backstabbers.
I’m glad the DEI is over.
God Bless The Trump Administration.
For Bringing Sanity to the Country Again!
So happy about this. The past four years under DEI our country has been weakened intellectually, rendered less secure and allowed dark forces to emerge and get stronger eg. Hamas supporters on Ivy League campuses.
As Pres Trump takes a sledgehammer to progressive diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives many businesses are following his example. Now, the shoe is on the other foot and the Lefties chickens are coming home to roost. The gov no longer wants them and the private sector won’t want them either. Good luck finding a job. You tried to cancel anybody that would not bow to your demands, now you are being cancelled.
Damn fine work!
It’s about time someone with more skills and abilities can advance in life with a well earned job bases on your capabilities not your skin color!
Michelle Obama killed all the fun in McDonaldland and made it a joyless, sterile place. Maybe Trump can do something about bringing back Ronald McDonald…