President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday that essentially negates multiple Biden administration-era executive orders that promoted diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility efforts within the federal government.
Among the orders, President Trump is placing federal employees involved in diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility efforts within the government on leave.
President Trump's orders also eliminated several executive orders signed by previous presidents, dating back to Lyndon B. Johnson.
The Trump administration claimed that the Biden administration "embedded deeply unpopular, inflationary, illegal, and radical practices within every agency and office of the federal government."
"The injection of 'diversity, equity, and inclusion' (DEI) into our institutions has corrupted them by replacing hard work, merit, and equality with a divisive and dangerous preferential hierarchy," the Trump administration said in its executive order.
The Biden administration had issued orders that required federal agencies to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in all parts of the federal workforce. Biden also rescinded a ban in 2021 that prevented federal employees from participating in diversity and sensitivity training.
The Trump administration also rescinded a Biden administration order that required federal agencies to consider diversity and inclusion when choosing federal contractors.
Another way President Trump could go after the private sector is language in the order that requires agencies to "identify up to nine potential civil compliance investigations of publicly traded corporations, large non-profit corporations or associations, foundations with assets of $500 million or more, state and local bar and medical associations, and institutions of higher education with endowments over $1 billion."
RELATED STORY | Costco board decries effort to end its DEI programs
The Biden administration also reduced the number of unpaid internships and required federal agencies to develop comprehensive plans to address workplace harassment, including sexual harassment.
The Biden administration's DEI orders were intended to address numerous inequalities in the federal workforce among numerous underrepresented groups. Groups included people of color, women, first-generation professionals and immigrants, individuals with disabilities, LGBTQ+ individuals, Americans who live in rural areas, older Americans who face age discrimination when seeking employment, parents and caregivers who face employment barriers, people of faith who require religious accommodations at work, individuals who were formerly incarcerated, and veterans and military spouses.
President Trump's order requires that federal contractors not balance their workforce based on race, sex, gender identity, sexual preference, or religion.
RELATED STORY | President Trump pardons about 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants, commutes sentences for 14 others
The Trump administration is also ordering all Chief Diversity Officers positions within the government to be eliminated.
"Billions of dollars are spent annually on DEI, but rather than reducing bias and promoting inclusion, DEI creates and then amplifies prejudicial hostility and exacerbates interpersonal conflict," the Trump administration said.
