Donald Trump hits hard against affirmative action, DEI in first week in White House

US President Donald Trump has moved to end diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programmes in the federal government, reversing decades of policy.

According to Reuters, the Trump administration has urged government employees to report colleagues and their departments if they hide diversity programmes under another name. He also told government employees administering DEI programmes that they would be placed on paid leave.

As per a report in The Washington Post, dozens of contracting programmes, aimed at minorities and women, have been suspended as well. Some of these initiatives had been operating for decades.


The Donald Trump administration rescinded a 1965 executive order by former President Lyndon B. Johnson that forbid federal contractors from discriminating in employment and used affirmative action to provide equal opportunity to individuals on the basis of race, colour, religion and national origin.

Trump administration acts on DEI in private sector

The government has sought to put pressure on private sector companies, which receive government contracts, to refrain from using DEI programmes.

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Another executive order, dated January 22, aims to dissuade private companies from hiring on the basis of what it termed as “illegal DEI discrimination and preferences”. It has tasked government agencies to identify private companies that could be subjected to a civil investigation on the basis of the new orders.

Reasoning behind revoking DEI

According to the executive order, the principles of DEI undermine the spirit of can violate the civil-rights laws and national unity. The Trump administration has characterised these initiatives as policies that “deny, discredit, and undermine the traditional American values of hard work, excellence, and individual achievement.”

Debate around DEI in the US

Trump’s actions come over a year after a US Supreme Court ruling overturned race-based affirmative action at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The decision kickstarted a legal campaign to end DEI in the government and private contracting sectors.

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FAQs

What are DEI programmes?
‘Diversity, Equity and Inclusion’ programmes in the US are a broad range of practices to diversify corporations, organisations and schools. These include anti-bias training as well as recruiting and mentorship programs for women, LGBTQ+ people, ethnic minorities and other traditionally underrepresented groups.

What other orders has the Trump administration enacted?
Donald Trump has set the stage for sweeping changes just days after assuming office for his second term. The US President has signed orders to withdraw his country from the Paris Agreement on climate change as well as the World Health Organization (WHO).