In an executive order (EO) entitled “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing” (EO 14151) signed on Jan. 20, President Trump ordered the termination of all programs, mandates and policies that promote the ideals of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI).
DEI policy was originally introduced through executive order by former President Biden on his first day in office. Biden’s executive order, “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government” (EO 13985), “recognized that, although the ideal of equal opportunity is the bedrock of American democracy, our laws, public policies, and institutions too often exacerbate disparities or deny equal opportunity to individuals and communities.” In President Trump’s executive order, Biden’s policy is described as “illegal and immoral discrimination programs.”
Through the repealing of DEI policy, the executive order appoints the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought, to review and revise “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.”
In a fact sheet released by the White House Press Office regarding Trump’s executive order, it states, “This Executive Order reaffirms these values [individual dignity, hard work and excellence] by ending the Biden-Harris Administration’s anti-constitutional and deeply demeaning ‘equity’ mandates, terminating DEI and protecting civil rights.”
More recently, on Feb. 21, U.S. District Judge Adam Abelson issued a preliminary injunction against multiple provisions of the executive order. An injunction is a special court order which compels a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. Preliminary injunctions are given before a trial (because of this, they are rarely given) with the additional requirement that the party asking for the injunction is likely to succeed on its merits.
Abelson argues that the order failed to define DEI terms, making itself too vague for federal employees to reasonably determine their compliance. Abelson also noted that the order could potentially discourage businesses, organizations and public entities from openly supporting diversity, equity and inclusion.
These effects are already being seen throughout the American markets. Forbespublished a frequently updated list of companies that cut their DEI programs and/or policies. One example from this list, dated Feb. 26, is the American film production and distribution company Paramount. Forbes reports, “Paramount will no longer use diversity targets—tied to race or gender—in hiring, and the company has begun removing DEI language from its website, the New York Times and other outlets reported, citing a company memo in which Paramount executives cited Trump’s anti-DEI executive orders.”
However, news organizations and publications are not the only ones reporting on corporate DEI repeals. In the days following President Trump’s executive order, thousands of social media users have taken to platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and X to call for the boycott of companies that scale back their DEI initiative. These companies include Target, Walmart, Amazon, Tesla, Google and many others.
Supporters of the boycott have also encouraged consumers to shop at Costco and other retailers who have continued their commitments to diversity efforts despite Trump’s executive order.
