Trump Shuts Down DEI Offices Across Federal Government

President Donald Trump’s administration has ordered the termination of all of the US government’s Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) offices and employees.

The move comes hours after President Trump’s team shuttered the government’s official DEI website. 

An executive order signed by Trump on January 20th  directed “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.” 

Trump’s executive order undoes former President Joe Biden’s earlier executive actions to further DEI initiatives by institutionalizing them in the Federal government. 

According to Trump’s administration, President Biden’s DEI policies were “illegal and immoral discrimination programs” that were imposed “into virtually all aspects of the Federal Government, in areas ranging from airline safety to the military.”  

Conservatives have long opposed DEI initiatives and have lauded Trump’s “merit-based” approach. 

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr, for example, claimed Trump’s cancellation of public DEI programs would “deliver great results for the American people” as he ordered the FCC to terminate all of its DEI programs. 

Last week, some public agencies also began to independently close their DEI offices following conservative pressure. 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) decided to shut down its DEI central office prior to Trump’s inauguration on January 20th. 

FBI DEI initiatives had been subject to harsh criticism from conservative lawmakers, some of whom claimed DEI initiatives may have degraded the FBI’s capacity to prevent terror attacks.

Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) wrote a letter to former FBI Director Christopher Wray citing reports alleging “the law enforcement and intelligence capabilities of the FBI are degrading because the FBI is no longer hiring ‘the best and the brightest’ candidates.” 

Trump’s DEI-cancellation executive order is part of a package of 42 other orders Trump signed during his first day in office.