By Mel Wilson, NASW Senior Policy Advisor
Among the almost 100 executive orders enacted during President Trump’s first day in office, the administration included an order that has rolled back all federal programs promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I). That inclusion was a significant regression from the Biden administration’s approach to advancing racial equity and for remedying systemic racism. Not surprisingly, shortly after signing the order, Trump disparagingly attacked this longstanding program as being radical DEI preferencing.
Briefly, the executive order mandates:
- The termination of all DEI initiatives across federal agencies.
- That all federal employees working in DEI roles be placed on paid leave, with plans for eventual layoffs.
- To emphasize so-called Merit-Based Hiring:
- That all federal agencies are directed to review and dismantle DEI-related policies and programs, including those in federal contracting and grant recipients. And
- That federal agencies must only recognize two genders: male and female.
It is NASW’s point of view that Trump’s DE&I executive order will worsen America’s racial disparities related to access to higher paying employment opportunities that have growth potential — while increasing the nation’s economic divide. Of similar importance, ending successful DE&I programs greatly slows down the advancement to a “level playing field” for people of color and women as envisioned by Civil Rights leaders of the 1960s.
In 2025, the United States is rapidly being transformed into a nation where “minorities” are becoming the majority, the notion of workplace equity and inclusion should be seen as ideal rather than something to be despised.
For example, Trump’s executive order targeting DEI eliminated many previous executive orders that sought to end racial and gender discrimination in the workplace. Chief among them was Trump decision to shutter the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) — created by Lyndon Johnson’s Equal Employment Opportunity Act in 1965.
From our standpoint, it is significant — and ominous— that Trump’s DE&I ban is also being forced on the private sector. It is notable that on the day following the public DE&I executive order announcement, Trump signed an addendum presidential action that directed government agencies to “combat illegal private sector DEI preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities.” This directive goes on to instruct the Attorney General —in collaboration with the heads of government agencies— to submit a report with recommendations to “deter [private sector] DEI programs or principles (whether specifically designated ‘DEI’ or otherwise) that constitute illegal discrimination or preferences.”
All of which demonstrate how aggressive and far-reaching attacks on DE&I the Trump administration intends to be. This fact should serve as an alert to NASW — and our like-minded social justice allies— that we all must be fully committed to an informational counter-offensive aimed at protecting critical diversity and inclusion policies and programs.