One of President Donald Trump’s many missions since returning to the White House has been to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) throughout the bureaucracy. He ordered all such programs inside the federal government to be terminated within 60 days, rescinding an executive order (EO) former President Joe Biden signed four years ago. The next day, Trump’s Office of Personnel and Management demanded agencies shut down all DEI programs and place workers involved in them on leave indefinitely. He also repealed several other EOs, including one from 1965 when President Lyndon B. Johnson banned employment discrimination by federal contractors. It will likely take a while for full enforcement to happen, but changes are already underway. Will they impact Americans outside the government’s umbrella? They might. Let’s take a look.
‘I Think DEI Is Dead’
When a reporter asked the president whether federal agencies’ websites would be shut down to wipe all references to DEI, he replied, “I don’t know. It doesn’t sound like a bad idea to me … I think DEI is dead, so if they want to scrub the websites that’s okay with me.” But officials had already begun the scrub-a-dub. By now, it’s unlikely anybody could find the words “diversity, equity, and inclusion” on a government website. Reality has returned and replaced “gender” with “sex” and “pregnant people” with “women.” Say goodbye to “gender identity,” too, and get used to seeing “climate resilience” instead of “climate change.”
Messages like the one below are appearing on agency homepages:
“The U.S. Department of Education has taken action to eliminate harmful Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives, including references to them in public-facing communication channels and its associated workforce. These actions are in line with President Trump’s ongoing commitment to end illegal discrimination and wasteful spending across the federal government. They are the first step in reorienting the agency toward prioritizing meaningful learning ahead of divisive ideology in our schools.”
The military also will eliminate these practices. In a succinct handwritten memo on official letterhead sent to Pentagon employees, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrote in large black letters: “DoD ≠ DEI*.” Below the six-lettered message he warned, “*no exceptions, name-changes or delays. Those who do not comply will no longer work here.”
A Social Contagion
Even though Trump’s orders to end DEI impact only the bureaucracy, the changes could have a sweeping effect. Many companies in the last year have abandoned such policies, such as Bud Light, Target, and Harley Davidson. More will likely follow suit now that the government is laying the groundwork. Ideologies that often spread like a social contagion can die the same way they thrive. Clear a path, and people will probably follow.
Look at what happened when colleges nationwide had to cease using race-based admission policies after the Supreme Court issued its decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which declared those practices unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Though the ruling pertained only to colleges, many private companies across the country decided to reassess their DEI practices, and several dialed them back or ended them.
The president’s goal is to return America to a colorblind and meritocratic society. Critics say merit is unfair, but is choosing applicants based on ancestry instead of their accomplishments fair? Trying to make quotas has a sneaky way of overshadowing an employer’s primary purpose. It becomes more about how the staff looks than how it operates.
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