In a bold move, President Donald Trump's administration has directed a shutdown of all federal diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
WBALTV reported that following a recently signed executive order, federal DEI staff are to be placed on paid leave, and plans for their layoffs are underway.
The dismantling began immediately after President Trump signed the executive order on his first day back in office.
This order targets DEI programs established under former President Joe Biden, marking a significant shift in federal policy.
The Office of Personnel Management acted swiftly, issuing a memo to all federal agencies. This memo instructed that DEI employees must be placed on paid leave by 5 p.m. the following Wednesday.
Concurrently, agencies were required to start removing all DEI-focused content from their public websites and cancel scheduled DEI-related training sessions.
In addition, these directives mandated the termination of contracts related to DEI and the compilation of comprehensive lists detailing DEI offices and personnel as of the last Election Day. The swift timeline set by the administration underscores the seriousness with which it views this rollback.
By the end of the same week, federal agencies were also required to develop plans for what is described as a "reduction-in-force action" aimed at DEI staff.
This strategy signals a significant scale-down in federal employment tied to diversity initiatives, affecting not only federal workers but also contractors and grant recipients.
Furthermore, the executive order includes a robust plan to scrutinize private companies' DEI practices through federal entities like the Justice Department. This move could widen the scope of the executive order’s impact, extending into the private sector.
Trump’s comprehensive order aims to dismantle entire diversity offices, eliminate specific training programs, remove accountability measures, and dissolve the Chief Diversity Officers Council—that were all points of expansion under Biden's administration.
Dan Lennington from the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty described this policy shift as a "seismic shift" in the federal government's direction. He noted that such changes represent a complete reversal of the focus previously set.
Chiraag Bains, former deputy director of the White House Domestic Policy Council under Biden, defended the previous diversity policies, explaining their intention to include historically marginalized communities without fostering reverse discrimination.
"Biden's DEI policies were about ensuring that the federal government was structured to include historically marginalized communities, not institute reverse discrimination against white men," Bains said.
Despite the wide-ranging cuts, not all of Biden’s initiatives are targeted for rollback. Some, like the prohibition on inquiring about salary history during job interviews, maintain bipartisan support and have proven popular at state and local levels.
Noreen Farrell, executive director of Equal Rights Advocates, expressed hope that this rule would not be reversed, citing the complexity and potential challenges in implementing such extensive structural changes.