An executive order signed by President Trump in the hours after his inauguration Jan. 20 shut down all federal government diversity, equity and inclusion programs, which the order called ‘radical and wasteful.’
The text of the order says it is a reversal of President Biden’s Executive Order 13985, signed on his first day in office in 2021. That order and follow-on orders required federal agencies and entities to develop equity action plans and report on their progress.
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According to the order, the director of personnel management will work with the attorney general to review and revise all existing federal employment practices, union contracts and training policies and programs. Further, federal employee performance reviews are required to reward initiative, skills and performance only, the order says.
The requirements extend to federal agencies and departments, federal contractors and federal grantees. All U.S. government DEI staff were placed on paid leave on Jan. 22 and DEI-focused pages on government websites began disappearing by week’s end. The Trump administration also singled out the Federal Aviation Administration by ordering the Secretary of Transportation and FAA Administrator to immediately stop DEI hiring programs and return to non-discriminatory, merit-based hiring, citing the safety of the flying public.
DEI programs have come under fire in the private sector as well. Many of the nation’s largest companies have recently pulled back on DEI initiatives. In November, Walmart announced it was discontinuing diversity training and supplier diversity initiatives and removing all references to diversity and DEI from its corporate language. The decision has met resistance and requests to reconsider.
Walmart joins other large American corporations such as Google, Meta, Microsoft, Zoom and McDonald’s who have all similarly scaled back or reassessed their commitments to DEI initiatives in the past year.
Earlier this month, Meta – which owns Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp – said it will no longer consider diversity, equity and inclusion policies before hiring, training and choosing suppliers. Amazon said it is halting some of its DEI programs as part of an overall review of DEI initiatives and a winding down of outdated programs and materials.
McDonald’s opened 2025 with an announcement that it would roll back some of its DEI practices four years after launching a push for more diversity among its workers. The company cited a Supreme Court decision that outlawed affirmative action in college admissions and the “shifting legal landscape” for its decision.
Boeing, Ford, John Deere, Harley-Davidson all rolled back their DEI initiatives last year.
In contrast, Apple's board of directors recently denied a request asking the company to abolish its DEI programs, policies, department and goals. Costco rejected a shareholder proposal that challenged its DEI policies, and Microsoft recently reaffirmed its commitment to diversity and inclusion.
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