Following President Trump’s inauguration on January 20, 2025, over 20 executive orders dealing with issues ranging from climate change, immigration, energy production and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion practices were signed on that same day.
Notably Executive Order 14151 titled “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing” specifically targeted dismantling DEI programs.
The order labels DEI programs as “illegal and immoral discrimination programs” and mandates their termination within 60 days, setting a deadline of March 21, 2025.
On the same day, Executive Order 14168 was signed and establishes a federal policy recognizing two sexes based on biological markers rather than on gender identity.
With this order, funding for gender affirming surgery is removed and women’s only spaces, such as bathrooms, shelters and prisons are now only open to biological females.
On the next day, January 21st, Executive Order 14173, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” was signed. It revoked previous executive order that supported DEI efforts in federal hiring, contracting, and education.
Federal agencies, contractors and grant recipients were ordered to remove DEI-related policies. It also tasked the Attorney General to identify and address DEI practices in the private sector– specifically in large corporations, nonprofits, and higher education institutions.
According to the order, DEI policies are “not only violate the text and spirit of our longstanding Federal civil-rights laws, they also undermine our national unity, as they deny, discredit, and undermine the traditional American values of hard work, excellence, and individual achievement in favor of an unlawful, corrosive, and pernicious identity-based spoils system.”
Corporate Response
Since the executive order have been signed multiple companies have gotten rid of their DEI language. These companies include Amazon, Boeing, Disney, Ford, Google, Lowe’s, McDonald’s, Meta, Pepsi, Target, Uber, Victoria’s Secret and Walmart.
Some companies, such as John Deere in July of 2024, have already gotten rid of DEI language, others are following orders to prevent short-term controversy.
Educational and Research Funding
In response to the order, the Department of Education has taken strides to get rid of DEI language in a statement titled “U.S. Department of Education Takes Action to Eliminate DEI.”
In the memo they asked all schools and universities to cease their DEI programs, including ending racial preferences in admissions, financial aid, and hiring within two weeks or risk losing federal funding.
Since then eight Democratically lead states, California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Washington have filed a lawsuit against the Department of Education.
The lawsuit specifically goes after the Department of Education decision to terminate grants that were made to support training of teachers and the creation of positions in hard-to-staff schools in rural and urban areas during a nationwide teacher shortage.
Georgia’s Response
On February 6, Republican State Senator Marty Harbin introduced Senate Bill 120 which sought to withhold state funding to public schools and universities that promoted DEI initiatives. The bill passed the Senate Higher Education Committee but the Georgia State Senate didn’t vote on it by Crossover Day. This effectively halted its progress for the time being.
The University System of Georgia has instructed institutions to remove DEI-related content from their websites.
College Responses
University System of Georgia Board of Regents has created changes to fight against DEI ideology and to instead strengthen academic integrity. “All admissions processes and decisions shall be free of ideological tests, affirmations, and oaths, including diversity statements. No applicant for admission shall be asked to or required to affirmatively ascribe to or opine about political beliefs, affiliations, ideals, or principles, as a condition for admission,”
A spokesperson for Georgia Southern said school officials “believe that our adherence to existing laws and US policies aligns with the expectations set forth” and that they “Remain committed to evaluating any additional guidance that may be issued and will take appropriate measures to ensure continued compliance.”
Oglethorpe University’s DEI’s website is still up and they’ve said that were were committed to “an inclusive learning environment.”
Georgia State University is reassessing their DEI initiatives to ensure compliance with the federal directive while maintaining its commitment to an inclusive environment.
Mercer University has deleted their DEI webpage along side their anti-racist statement following the federal directive.
Georgia Tech on the other hand has completely removed its DEI policies from their website.
Pushback
On January 14, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown joined a coalition of 13 other attorneys general urging Walmart to reconsider its plans to halt its DEI initiatives.
On February 21, U.S. District Judge Adam Abelson of Baltimore, Maryland issued a nationwide injunction which would temporarily prevent the enforcement of the Executive Orders that targeted DEI because they are unconstitutional under the 1st and 5th Amendments.
Plaintiffs of the action include the City of Baltimore, American Association of University Professors, the Restaurant Opportunities Center United, and the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education.
Carey Wright, Maryland’s Superintendent of Public Schools, has also urged public schools to not comply with the order even with the fear of lost funding looming overhead.
The Pentagon’s Response
The Pentagon has removed anywhere from 26,000 to 100,000 pieces of digital media (pictures and posts), which celebrated DEI, from its platforms. This affected all military branches and particularly content featuring women, minorities, and notable military milestones, such as World War II Medal of Honor recipients and the first women to pass Marine infantry training.
Department of Defense’s Response
In collaboration with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, approximately $80 millions were identified as non-essential expenditures from DEI training adn climate change studies programs. The funds are now being redirected to military functions.
The U.S. Army has also deployed an artificial intelligence tool, CamoGPT, to identify and eliminate references to DEI in training materials to ensure compliance to the new federal directives.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has emphasized that the Department of Defense doesn’t engage in climate change related activities and is instead committed to its primary objective, war-fighting and training.
