Breaking Down Trump’s DEI Order

President Trump’s recent executive order dismantles federal diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) initiatives, and environmental justice initiatives.

This executive order modifies existing policies by overturning decades of bipartisan initiatives aimed at addressing systemic disparities, replacing them with a new framework in less than 1,000 words.

It reverses key protections established under previous administrations, including an order prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin for federal contractors.

It also removes provisions protecting workers' rights to discuss their pay.

The original policy was implemented under the Johnson administration in 1965.

This directive significantly alters longstanding workplace policies related to fairness and equal opportunity.

It establishes a "merit-based" framework that does not consider historical disparities, positioning DEI initiatives as unnecessary and potentially exclusionary.

By revoking policies that addressed identity-based inequities, the order reinterprets civil rights regulations under a neutrality-based approach.

Additionally, agencies are directed to align their operations with these changes and are required under 28 U.S.C. 530D to notify Congress if they choose not to enforce the new policies.

This may create uncertainty for public and private entities regarding the future of DEI initiatives. We’ve already seen countless American companies follow suit.

This executive order restructures federal enforcement priorities related to equity efforts in workplaces, schools, and government institutions, replacing previous policies with a new approach emphasizing neutrality and individual merit.

The following is a line-by-line breakdown of the order in layman's terms.

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A Full Breakdown —

Section 1. Purpose and Policy. The Biden Administration forced illegal and immoral discrimination programs, going by the name “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI), into virtually all aspects of the Federal Government, in areas ranging from airline safety to the military. This was a concerted effort stemming from President Biden’s first day in office, when he issued Executive Order 13985, “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government.”

Pursuant to Executive Order 13985 and follow-on orders, nearly every Federal agency and entity submitted “Equity Action Plans” to detail the ways that they have furthered DEIs infiltration of the Federal Government. The public release of these plans demonstrated immense public waste and shameful discrimination. That ends today. Americans deserve a government committed to serving every person with equal dignity and respect, and to expending precious taxpayer resources only on making America great.

Section 1 of this order is a critisism of former President Joe Biden’s Executive Order 13985, “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government”. It calls the former DEI initiative “shameful discrimination”, claiming that "every person [deserves] equal dignity and respect”.

Sec. 2. Implementation. (a) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), assisted by the Attorney General and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), shall coordinate the termination of all discriminatory programs, including illegal DEI and “diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility” (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government, under whatever name they appear. To carry out this directive, the Director of OPM, with the assistance of the Attorney General as requested, shall review and revise, as appropriate, all existing Federal employment practices, union contracts, and training policies or programs to comply with this order. Federal employment practices, including Federal employee performance reviews, shall reward individual initiative, skills, performance, and hard work and shall not under any circumstances consider DEI or DEIA factors, goals, policies, mandates, or requirements.

Section 2 calls for the end of all diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), DEIA (+ accessibility) iniatives in the federal government.

It states that all employment practices (such as hiring, or performance reviews) will be based on merit; iniative, skills, performance, and hard work.

(b) Each agency, department, or commission head, in consultation with the Attorney General, the Director of OMB, and the Director of OPM, as appropriate, shall take the following actions within sixty days of this order:

(i) terminate, to the maximum extent allowed by law, all DEI, DEIA, and “environmental justice” offices and positions (including but not limited to “Chief Diversity Officer” positions); all “equity action plans,” “equity” actions, initiatives, or programs, “equity-related” grants or contracts; and all DEI or DEIA performance requirements for employees, contractors, or grantees.

Within 60 days, every department head under the Federal Government must terminate all DEI, DEIA, and environment justice offices and positions.

It ends equity or accessibility related grants, contracts, or performance requirements for federal employees.

(ii) provide the Director of the OMB with a list of all:

(A) agency or department DEI, DEIA, or “environmental justice” positions, committees, programs, services, activities, budgets, and expenditures in existence on November 4, 2024, and an assessment of whether these positions, committees, programs, services, activities, budgets, and expenditures have been misleadingly relabeled in an attempt to preserve their pre-November 4, 2024 function;

(B) Federal contractors who have provided DEI training or DEI training materials to agency or department employees; and

(C) Federal grantees who received Federal funding to provide or advance DEI, DEIA, or “environmental justice” programs, services, or activities since January 20, 2021.

This requires the Director of the Office Management and Budget to be provided with a list of all the DEI initiatives that existed prior to the election.

They will then be checking all of those departments, contractors, policies, budgets, expenditures, programs, services, committees, and positions; a review will be conducted to ensure that none of them did a rebrand upon Trump’s election to hide their initiatives.

(iii) direct the deputy agency or department head to:

(A) assess the operational impact (e.g., the number of new DEI hires) and cost of the prior administration’s DEI, DEIA, and “environmental justice” programs and policies; and

(B) recommend actions, such as Congressional notifications under 28 U.S.C. 530D, to align agency or department programs, activities, policies, regulations, guidance, employment practices, enforcement activities, contracts (including set-asides), grants, consent orders, and litigating positions with the policy of equal dignity and respect identified in section 1 of this order. The agency or department head and the Director of OMB shall jointly ensure that the deputy agency or department head has the authority and resources needed to carry out this directive.

Department heads will be required to report operational impact, number of “DEI hires”, and the cost of their DEI/DEIA/Environmental Justice programs under Biden’s administration.

Then, they must propose actions to adjust these programs and policies to align with Section 1, which required that everything be based on merit; iniative, skills, performance, and hard work.

They will work with the Office of Management and Budget to ensure that each department head has the authority and resources to enforce this.

If any agency decides not to enforce this, then the Attorney General/Executive Branch are required to notify Congress of their failure to comply.

(c) To inform and advise the President, so that he may formulate appropriate and effective civil-rights policies for the Executive Branch, the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy shall convene a monthly meeting attended by the Director of OMB, the Director of OPM, and each deputy agency or department head to:

The Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy will hold a monthly meeting with the Director of Office Management and Budget and the Director of Office of Personnel Management, where they will discuss the points outlined below.

(i) hear reports on the prevalence and the economic and social costs of DEI, DEIA, and “environmental justice” in agency or department programs, activities, policies, regulations, guidance, employment practices, enforcement activities, contracts (including set-asides), grants, consent orders, and litigating positions;

(ii) discuss any barriers to measures to comply with this order; and

(iii) monitor and track agency and department progress and identify potential areas for additional Presidential or legislative action to advance the policy of equal dignity and respect.

1. They will review reports on the cost of DEI, DEIA, and environmental justice initiatives.

2. They will discuss anything standing in the way of different agencies following this order.

3. They will monitor every agencies progress, and identify any additional areas where they might need to lay down the hammer.

Sec. 3. Severability. If any provision of this order, or the application of any provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the remainder of this order and the application of its provisions to any other persons or circumstances shall not be affected.

Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

These are required sections stating that if any part of the executive order can’t be implemented, the rest still stands.

Additionally, it states that the order does not override existing legal authorities, it must comply with applicable laws and funding, and it does not grant enforceable legal rights to any party.

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