How Trump is gutting DEI with a flurry of executive orders

[ResidentialBusiness]

Since his inauguration on January 20, President Trump has wasted no time issuing an onslaught of executive orders. On his first day in office, Trump signed off on a whopping 26 executive orders, along with 20 additional presidential actions, and rescinded nearly 80 of Biden’s executive actions, which he described as “disruptive” and “radical.” A number of those edicts—including others that have followed over the past week—have targeted diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives across the federal government and private sector. 

It’s not clear how some of these executive actions may hold up in court, though mounting right-wing attacks on DEI had already prompted many employers to alter or even dismantle their diversity programs well before Trump took office. Over the past year, major companies like Walmart and McDonald’s have rolled back their commitments to DEI, along with household names like John Deere, Ford, and Lowe’s; more recently, leading tech employers like Meta have also followed suit. But Trump’s barrage of orders could usher in more sweeping changes to corporate DEI work, by explicitly targeting even private employers. 

Trump’s actions have had a near-immediate impact on equity initiatives across the government: Federal employees in DEI roles were put on administrative leave by Wednesday, and workers across federal agencies claim the executive orders have already compromised employee resource groups, which have been shut down or paused. Here’s a rundown of the orders Trump has issued over the past week, and how they could further affect DEI efforts across the workforce:

Federal hiring and workforce 

When Biden took office in 2021, he introduced an executive order that sought to formalize equity requirements across all federal agencies. Trump is undoing those initiatives with a new action (“Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing”), directing agencies to eliminate what the order describes as “illegal” programs, including all DEI “mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government, under whatever name they appear.” The order also calls for terminating visible DEI positions like chief diversity officer “to the maximum extent allowed by law,” along with any equity-related requirements for grants or contractors and initiatives that focus on environmental justice.  

Trump also signed a separate order intended to emphasize the importance of merit in federal hiring and eliminate any DEI considerations. “Federal hiring should not be based on impermissible factors, such as one’s commitment to illegal racial discrimination under the guise of ‘equity,’ or one’s commitment to the invented concept of ‘gender identity’ over sex,” the order read. Another action targeted hiring practices at the Federal Aviation Administration, ordering the agency to end any such initiatives that incorporated DEI. 

Beyond these orders, the Trump administration has also explicitly instructed federal workers to report colleagues who attempt to maintain any DEI programs or continue the work under a different name—or risk “adverse consequences” for failing to do so within 10 days. “These programs divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars and resulted in shameful discrimination,” read an email to federal workers. 

DEI in the military

In a suite of new orders this week, Trump made a number of major changes to the military—most notably barring transgender people from enlisting. As part of those actions, Trump is also ending diversity programs in the military and directing the Department of Defense and Homeland Security to eliminate all DEI positions, which will include “any vestiges of DEI offices, such as sub-offices, programs, elements, or initiatives established to promote a race-based preferences system that subverts meritocracy, perpetuates unconstitutional discrimination, and promotes divisive concepts or gender ideology.” The newly confirmed defense secretary Pete Hegseth underscored this message in a recent post on X, and the executive order also notes that his office will be tasked with conducting an internal review to snuff out any DEI-related initiatives.

Corporate diversity programs

Perhaps the most significant aspect of Trump’s DEI-related actions is that they also take aim at private companies that engage in diversity work. In another action, Trump reversed a critical executive order that dated back to 1965 and addressed discriminatory hiring practices across private contractors that work with the federal government; at the time, the order was seen as an important move to promote racial equity, and it laid the groundwork for subsequent measures to expand worker protections. Trump also revoked a number of previous actions that secured protections against employment discrimination for American workers. 

But this directive could also catalyze a broader divestment from diversity work across corporate America, by instructing federal agencies to investigate private sector DEI programs. “I further order all agencies to enforce our longstanding civil-rights laws and to combat illegal private-sector DEI preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities,” the order reads, adding that agencies will “identify up to nine potential civil compliance investigations” of publicly traded companies, nonprofits, and other corporate entities. It’s not yet clear which companies might be singled out for those investigations—but it seems likely that even more employers will make changes to their DEI programs to avoid legal scrutiny.

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