Trump Signs Executive Orders Rescinding Biden’s “Racial Equity” Agenda and Eliminating DEI Throughout Federal Government
DEI in the federal government is dead. Or so we think.

(This post has been updated to reflect additional EO’s signed).
Trump signed an Executive Order tonight titled Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions, revoking dozens of Biden Executive Orders.
Among the Orders revoked were Biden orders implementing “Racial Equity” (aka Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) throughout the federal government.
- Executive Order 13985 of January 20, 2021 (Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government).
- Executive Order 14091 of February 16, 2023 (Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government).
The 2021 Order, for example, provided in part:
It is therefore the policy of my Administration that the Federal Government should pursue a comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all, including people of color and others who have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality. Affirmatively advancing equity, civil rights, racial justice, and equal opportunity is the responsibility of the whole of our Government. Because advancing equity requires a systematic approach to embedding fairness in decision-making processes, executive departments and agencies (agencies) must recognize and work to redress inequities in their policies and programs that serve as barriers to equal opportunity.
The 2023 Order provided, in part:
Over the past 2 years, through landmark legislation — including the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117‑2); the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117-58) (Bipartisan Infrastructure Law); division A of Public Law 117-167, known as the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) Act of 2022; Public Law 117-169, commonly referred to as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022; and the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (Public Law 117-159) — as well as executive action, my Administration has vigorously championed racial equity and has advanced equal opportunity for underserved communities. Executive departments and agencies (agencies) have engaged in historic work assessing how their policies and programs perpetuate barriers for underserved communities and developing strategies for removing those barriers. They have made important progress incorporating an evidence-based approach to equitable policymaking and implementation, and they have crafted new action plans to advance equity. In short, my Administration has embedded a focus on equity into the fabric of Federal policymaking and service delivery…..
This order builds upon my previous equity-related Executive Orders by extending and strengthening equity-advancing requirements for agencies, and it positions agencies to deliver better outcomes for the American people. In doing so, the Federal Government shall continue to pursue ambitious goals to build a strong, fair, and inclusive workforce and economy; invest in communities where Federal policies have historically impeded equal opportunity — both rural and urban — in ways that mitigate economic displacement, expand access to capital, preserve housing and neighborhood affordability, root out discrimination in the housing market, and build community wealth; advance equity in health, including mental and behavioral health and well-being; deliver an equitable response to the COVID-19 pandemic; deliver environmental justice and implement the Justice40 Initiative; build prosperity in rural communities; ensure equitable procurement practices, including through small disadvantaged businesses contracting and the Buy Indian Act (25 U.S.C. 47); pursue educational equity so that our Nation’s schools put every student on a path to success; improve our Nation’s criminal justice system to end unjust disparities, strengthen public safety, and ensure equal justice under law; promote equity in science and root out bias in the design and use of new technologies, such as artificial intelligence; protect the right to vote and realize the promise of our Nation’s civil rights laws; and promote equity and human rights around the world through our foreign policy and foreign assistance. By redoubling our efforts, the Federal Government can help bridge the gap between the world we see and the future we seek.
Each Order provided elaborate mechanisms to force “racial equity” into every nook and cranny of the federal government.
Each Order now is gone, the federal government will have to observe the equal protection of the laws guarantee the courts have held is implicit in the 5th Amendment (the 14th Amendment explicit guarantee applies to the states).
DEI in the federal government is dead. Or so we think.
UPDATE
After publication of the post, Trump signed additional Executive Orders, including Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing:
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.
***
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.
(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.
He also signed Federal Hiring Process and Restoring Merit to Government Service:
(b) This Federal Hiring Plan shall:
…
(ii) prevent the hiring of individuals based on their race, sex, or religion, and prevent the hiring of individuals who are unwilling to defend the Constitution or to faithfully serve the Executive Branch;

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Comments
Trump made it clear that his administration will be merit-based. But what can he do about a ton of DEI hires protected by Civil Service?
Change their status. Civil Service protections only provide protection from individual firings. If entire departments are shutdown or shrunk then the positions are no longer there and the people can be terminated. Vivek made a very strong case to do just that and I think Trump is going to go that route.
Yep. Civil servants ate hired to do X particular task(s). If those tasks are.eliminated the civil servants hired to perform them are no longer needed. Offer them an opportunity to interview/apply and potentially transfer to a Dept with vacancies and fire those who decline.
The whole setup of Civil Service is designed to prevent this. A closed agency results in freed-up employees who are then allowed to apply for open positions across the country with a ‘points bonus’ over other applicants. Thankfully, if these employees are set to normal agency tasks instead of their DEI make-work, they’ll fail enough to be shuffled out the door. It just takes time and focus on the actual agency priorities.
“Section 1. Purpose and Policy. The Biden Administration forced illegal and immoral discrimination programs… The public release of these plans demonstrated immense public waste and shameful discrimination.”
Geez, Donny, don’t hold back!
Tell us what you really thought of the corrupt old bastard… right up front!
The man really needs to stop sugarcoating everything.
And all of the “work from home” scammers (who you can never get in touch with because they dont return calls or answer emails and dont have a desk) now have to come back to work.
Want to reduce the Federal work force and the budget? Fire everyone who is in this position unless its a medical issue.
Work from home is a spectrum, from “100% justified” to “What does this guy do that can’t be done by a rock?” Pre-covid the bias was to Office, with occasional telework. Then covid pushed the pendulum the other way. Now it is swinging back, but it can’t go as far because a lot of jobs really don’t need the office space (and expense) that a commute entails.
Agreed that a lot of office jobs can be done via telework. The trick is to make sure there are ways for managers to see that work is getting done (and by whom) and that people are reasonably responsive when “the office is open”. Positions where there is no way to assure the employee is productive should either be done on-site or eliminated.
Hell of a good start.
Daddy just walked into his home after a four-week vacation where his stay-behind kids have run amok. There will be some changes.
It’s sad how clueless most people are. I became a Treasury Agent in 1978 and the government hiring process was rife with open discrimination in favor of minorities and women. These hires were quickly promoted to high managerial positions because they could not handle the daily work. No manager dared to give them a poor job evaluation. And, even back then we were forced to attend discrimination seminars. This has been going on a long time and will continue. The DEI stuff was just an absurdist showy manifestation of the disease when the country was in high fever. The nonsense will continue in its essentials unabated.
This times a thousand. Every agency with field offices has occasional (or not so rare) employees who cause more trouble than anything. These employees get ‘promoted up’ and tend to wind up in D.C. (which explains a lot about that city)
I don’t know why so many here were never-Trumpers in the beginning.
It took a while for some people to get past #45/47’s brash and assured persona and personality. Some people weren’t used to it. That, plus his status as a bull in a china shop (desperately needed, in the D.C. Swamp).
Some people still can’t get past the persona (which, truthfully, has mellowed a bit) to see that the man has sound political instincts and did a lot of great and beneficial stuff during his first term, despite facing unprecedented and outrageous subversion, sabotage, persecution and vilification, 24/7. The Mueller Commission/Russian Collusion dirty tricks hoax and Biden corruption-linked Hoaxpeachment brazenly robbed #45 and the American citizens who had voted him into office the exercise of power to which they had been entitled, for at least the first two years of #45’s term.
DEI is such a fraud.
A fraud, and, a lawless one at that, that runs brazenly afoul of every federal labor and employment law pertaining to anti-discrimination in job hiring and contract awarding.
Not strong enough- they need to purge this from ALL contracting.
Gov contracting is one of the excuses corporations have used for cover on pushing this racism (I know first hand from a company that rhymes with My-crow-sopht).
DEI is not dead in the Federal Government. It’s just been convicted and sentenced. Now, it’s time to be vigilant to assure the many appeals by the ambulance chasers of the political left will fail before the courts.