Only Congress Can Slay the DEI Monster For Good

President Donald Trump has already taken momentous steps to reign in the “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) monster that has embedded itself throughout the federal government – but only Congress can ultimately slay it.

Throughout his first few weeks in office, Trump has signed a bevy of executive actions aimed at dismantling the DEI infrastructure erected by the Biden administration. One of Trump’s day one executive orders, titled “ending radical and wasteful government DEI programs and preferencing,” notes that “the Biden administration forced illegal and immoral discrimination programs, going by the name ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’…into virtually all aspects of the Federal Government, in areas ranging from airline safety to the military.”

As Trump alludes to, Biden on his first day in office signed an executive order requiring every federal agency and department to create an “equity action plan,” as well as to conduct an “equity assessment.”

Biden’s executive order was enacted with devastating effectiveness, turning the federal government into a chief purveyor of DEI. For instance, a report from Open the Books, a government watchdog group, found that the Department of Health and Human Services under Biden employed “294 DEI staffers at an annual cost of $38.7 million.”

Moreover, “variations of the term ‘equity’ appear an astonishing 829 times in the department’s 2025 budget request to Congress [released under the Biden administration] impacting hundreds of millions of dollars of spending programs.”

The Trump administration is in the process of dissolving all of those DEI positions and returning the government to its proper role of serving American taxpayers equally, regardless of race or gender, and hiring based on merit rather than racial quotas.

Many private sector companies and even universities – where DEI emerged from in the first place – are following suit. As AMAC Newsline reported late last year, the University of Michigan, a trailblazer in DEI, recently announced a “broader shift” away from DEI policies. Major employers like Target and Walmart, among others, have also announced a rollback of their DEI initiatives.

But concerning signs are already emerging that the DEI infrastructure the left has worked so hard to build in government and in corporate America isn’t being truly destroyed – it’s just going underground.

For instance, reports emerged late last month that at least one DEI official at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) had her job title changed from “Chief Diversity Officer” to “senior executive” with no apparent explanation other than to skirt Trump’s mandate to eliminate DEI positions.

“The ATF defied @realDonaldTrump’s order to place DEI workers on leave, instead giving their DEI officer a new title,” Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO) wrote of the situation on X. “They attack citizens’ rights, ignore leadership, and act as though they’re above the law. Enough is enough.”

Another report from Politico found that Biden State Department employees “had begun working months ago with outside nonprofits to archive websites they feared would be taken down by the Trump administration” – specifically those webpages focused on DEI.

Presumably those archived websites can be restored the instant a Democrat occupies the White House again. Just as swiftly as Trump dismantled Biden’s DEI regime, the next liberal president could restore it.

Unless, that is, Congress gets involved.

The most obvious action Congress could take to permanently slay the DEI monster would be to add policy riders to must-pass legislation that ban DEI training as a condition for agencies receiving federal funding.

Historically, policy riders are difficult to remove once they are added to legislation. One prime example is the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits direct federal funding of abortion. Despite Democrats having controlled Congress multiple times since the Hyde Amendment was first passed in 1976, it has been included in every federal appropriations bill since.

The best opportunity for congressional Republicans to implement a legislative ban on DEI in government will likely come during the budget reconciliation process later this year. This legislative tool allows the Senate to pass budget-related legislation without the usual 60-vote threshold – enabling Republicans to theoretically implement a DEI ban over what are sure to be strong objections from Senate Democrats.

Congress could also pass a law clarifying that hiring to meet DEI quotas constitutes illegal race discrimination. America First Legal, formerly run by Trump Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, has filed numerous lawsuits along these lines. If Congress passes legislation which provides more legal backing for such lawsuits, government agencies (and private sector companies, for that matter) would be incentivized to prioritize merit in hiring, even with a Democrat in the White House.

Passing legislation outlawing DEI in government hiring and operations is undoubtedly far more difficult than relying on executive action. But it has the tremendous benefit of being equally difficult to undo by future Democrat presidents and congressional majorities.

As with most things in life, the more Republicans are willing to work to end DEI for good, the more likely they are to achieve that goal.

AMAC Newsline contributor Matt Lamb is an associate editor for The College Fix. He previously worked for Students for Life of America, Students for Life Action, and Turning Point USA. He previously interned for Open the Books. His writing has also appeared in the Washington Examiner, The Federalist, LifeSiteNews, Human Life Review, Headline USA, and other outlets. The opinions expressed are his own. Follow him @mattlamb22 on X.