Alert

Will DEI Programs Become Extinct Under the Trump Administration?

January 23, 2025

In an effort to embrace diversity and inclusion, many employers established Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs. The look of these programs varied from company to company; however, many of the programs specifically tried to give an advantage to racial minorities or women to even the playing field in the workplace since they tend to be underrepresented in the workforce.

On June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court ruled in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College that race-conscious affirmative action in college admissions is unconstitutional. In the words of Justice Thomas in his concurring opinion, “The Constitution is color blind.”

A group called America First Legal saw the opportunity to attack DEI programs due to the clear mandate that race or gender should not be used as a factor in decision-making. According to America First Legal, the use of race in employment matters should be eliminated as a form of discrimination, just as it was eliminated in college admissions programs. Initially, America First Legal targeted law firms regarding their DEI programs. The courts did not reach any decision in these cases, as the law firms voluntarily agreed to abandon their DEI programs.

America First Legal did not stop there. On January 17, 2024, the group filed a complaint with the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), claiming that American Airlines was openly discriminating in its recruiting and hiring practices that focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion. America First Legal filed similar complaints against United Airlines and Southwest Airlines. When the OFCCP received the complaint against American Airlines, it held an informal compliance conference agreeing with America First Legal that the American Airlines DEI program was a violation of the equal employment opportunity clause. Following this conference, American Airlines agreed to end its DEI program.

On his first day as president, Trump made clear that he felt that DEI programs were promoting illegal discrimination. He signed an Executive Order (EO) called “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing.” President Trump referred to DEI programs as “shameful discrimination.” The EO requires 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), to work together to ensure “termination of all discriminatory programs, including illegal DEI” and “diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA).” The EO only applies to federal employers and specifically states that 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.”

While this EO only applies to the federal government, the sentiment is unmistakable. Given the Supreme Court’s decision, the actions of America First Legal, and now the EO, it would appear that DEI programs may become extinct under the Trump administration. In the words of the EO, “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.”