The Trump administration made several moves this week to end federal diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Among the most significant, Trump issued a memo revoking a 1965 Executive Order signed by President Lyndon Johnson prohibiting discrimination among federal contractors and subcontractors based on race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, or national identity. The issuing of Executive Order by President Johnson in 1965 was considered a major achievement of the Civil Rights Movement, and has ensure equal employment opportunities to federal contractors and subcontractor for more than half a century. According to the US Department of Labor, federal contractors represent one-fifth of the US labor force.
The revoked order has served as an important bulwark against identity-based discrimination in federal contracting, in which racial disparities continue to persist according to a recent study by the White House Council of Economic Advisors (CEA). That report has been since taken offline by the Trump White House, but remains accessible at the Biden White House archives.
The CEA report found that “significant gaps” exist between federal contracting dollars going to white vs. Black, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American-owned firms, and that these disparities have only grown in recent years. According to the report, these racial disparities are less pronounced when equal opportunity initiatives are in place to address and prevent discrimination in federal contracting.
“Equal opportunity is the bedrock of American democracy, and the diversity of our Nation remains one of its greatest strengths. While the Civil Rights Act of 1964 marked a pivotal step toward dismantling legal racial segregation and the legacy of widespread discrimination in public life, the cumulative effects of past discriminatory government policies still persist today,” write the authors of the report. “Recognizing this, the federal government has taken steps to advance equity and economic inclusion, particularly within federal contracting; and continues the work catalyzed by the Civil Rights Act to proactively ensure all Americans are afforded equal protections and opportunity to fully realize their potential.”
“Equal opportunity is the bedrock of American democracy, and the diversity of our Nation remains one of its greatest strengths.”
“Racial Disparities in Government contracting.” December 20, 2024. Report by the White house council of economic advisors
Contrary to that report, this week Trump revoked Executive Order 11246 and subsequent actions by later presidents to further expand DEI at the federal level. In doing so, Trump characterized these earlier policies as “illegal”, saying that they “violate the text and spirit of our longstanding Federal civil-rights laws, … [and] 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.”
Trump’s executive orders have terminated all federal DEI-related activities and prohibited any “promoting [of] ‘diversity'”, either at the federal level or among federal contractors or subcontractors.
Several interviewed federal employees expressed fear and uncertainty about the future, according to the BBC. The short- and long-term impacts of Trump’s executive actions remain unclear but are likely to broadly end DEI efforts, both in the government and in the private sector. News outlets report that government employees working at federal DEI offices have been placed on paid leave and have had their email access suspended. According to the BBC and other outlets, other employees received formal emails from the Trump administration demanding that federal workers report any colleague working on diversity-related initiatives; those that don’t may face “adverse consequences”, according to some version of the email circulated to employees. Meanwhile, the Advocate reports that DEI-related policies were removed from Amazon’s website last month, and several other major companies are reportedly in the process of ending their formal diversity initiatives as well.
