Yearly Archives: 2025

President Donald Trump has called on federal agencies to get rid of diversity, equity and inclusion programs and warned employees to report efforts to disguise such programs or face consequences.

The warning came after Trump issued an executive order ending all diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal government earlier this week saying they discriminate against certain groups of people and waste money. Trump's order gave the job to the Office of Management and Budget, the Office of Personnel Management and the Department of Justice.

OPM drafted a letter for federal agencies to send to employees notifying them of the changes. The letter warned about efforts to get around the executive order.

"We are aware of efforts by some in government to disguise these programs by using coded or imprecise language," it states. "If you are aware of a change in any contract description or personnel position description since November 5, 2024 to obscure the connection between the contract and DEIA or similar ideologies, please report all facts and circumstances to [email protected] within 10 days.

"Failure to report such activities after the 10-day period could result in 'adverse consequences,'" it notes.

The draft letter further notes that "these programs divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars, and resulted in shameful discrimination."

Workers have since reported getting emails similar to the draft letter from federal agencies.

Trump also ordered all federal staff working on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion activities immediately be put on paid leave. That announcement came via a memo from the OPM, essentially the federal government’s human resources department. According to the memo, all DEI offices will be closed, and federal agency leaders have until the end of the month to submit plans on how they will close those offices. All online websites and social media accounts must be removed as well, according to the memo.

The American Federation of Government Employees, a union that represents 800,000 federal employees, called Trump's order an excuse for "firing civil servants."

"Ultimately, these attacks on DEIA are just a smokescreen for firing civil servants, undermining the apolitical civil service, and turning the federal government into an army of yes-men loyal only to the president, not the Constitution," AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in a statement.

Kelley said Trump's efforts would erode the government's merit-based approach to hiring.

"Undoing these programs is just another way for President Trump to undermine the merit-based civil service and turn federal hiring and firing decisions into loyalty tests," Kelley said. "Our nation's military leaders have said that eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion programs within the Defense Department risks undermining military readiness."

On Thursday, Trump told world leaders that he was making America a "merit-based country" during a speech by satellite to the 2025 meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

DEI programs were designed to boost minority participation in the federal workforce. Such policies have come under fire from Republicans, including Trump and others.

The Asian American Coalition for Education applauded Trump's efforts.

"Affirmative action and woke DEI programs are racism in disguise. President Trump's executive orders rescinding affirmative action and banning DEI programs are a major milestone in American civil rights progress and a critical step towards building a color-blind society," Yukong Mike Zhao, the president of AACE, said. "AACE urges the U.S. Congress to enact legislation that permanently outlaws all aspects of affirmative action and DEI programs in America."

Diversity, equity and inclusion polices are retreating nationwide, from the federal government to corporations around the country.

President Donald Trump immediately upon taking office began rooting out diversity, equity and inclusion positions within the federal government by ending programs and removing DEI staff.

Meanwhile, the pressure is also ramping up against private companies to stop embracing DEI.

Several major companies have announced they are cutting back or ending their DEI programs, including Meta, Walmart and McDonalds.

While companies are not cutting as aggressively as Trump, they are at least publicly pulling back from DEI goals and language.

Target reportedly sent out a memo this week to that end.

“Many years of data, insights, listening and learning have been shaping this next chapter in our strategy,” the memo said. “And as a retailer that serves millions of consumers every day, we understand the importance of staying in step with the evolving external landscape, now and in the future – all in service of driving Target’s growth and winning together.”

Costco made headlines for pushing back on the trend of Trump and others, doubling down on their DEI work after shareholders voted nearly unanimously this week to keep the DEI policies in place.

Jeff Raike, who has served on Costco’s board since 2008, encouraged businesses to "maximize DEI efforts" in a column published earlier this month by Forbes. Raike blamed “opportunistic politicians” for trying to “frighten and divide” the nation on the issue.

Costco's board last week, ahead of the shareholder vote, urged investors in the company to reject calls to scale back DEI policies in the company.

"Our success at Costco Wholesale has been built on service to our critical stakeholders: employees, members, and suppliers. Our efforts around diversity, equity and inclusion follow our code of ethics: For our employees, these efforts are built around inclusion – having all of our employees feel valued and respected," the board wrote, according to Fox Business.

Conservative activist Robbie Starbuck, whose public campaigns against companies such as Lowe's, Ford, Molson Coors and others, led them to scale back DEI initiatives, said Costco should do the same or face consequences.

“I suggest conservative consumers find other places to spend their money if Costco is so dedicated to doubling down on DEI," Starbuck wrote on X. "If they’re smart, Costco will do right by their shareholders and change before we turn our attention to them.”

The pressure on private companies is increasing. Ten attorneys general sent a letter now putting pressure on the private sector to end the DEI practices.

The letter went to Bank of America, BlackRock, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley and asked for an accounting of their DEI practices, including whether they broke the law.

"There is, however, mounting concern that political objectives have, in some cases, influenced your decision-making at the expense of your statutory and contractual obligations,” reads the letter, which was signed by the attorneys general of Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Virginia.

“Specifically, you appear to have embraced race- and sex-based quotas and to have made business and investment decisions based not on maximizing shareholder and asset value, but in the furtherance of political agendas."

The anti-DEI effort has been bolstered by a 2023 Supreme Court ruling against affirmative action policies on college campuses.

DEI can lead to hiring or promotion discrimination against white Americans, critics argue. For instance, internal documents at the Pentagon showed discrimination against white Americans for promotions.

“Banks and financial institutions are finally starting to realize that the ESG and DEI policies pushed by radical activist groups are bad for consumers and potentially violate the law,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement. “Unlawful race- and sex-based quotas and so-called ‘green energy’ schemes will not be allowed to stand and I will continue to urge these organizations to uphold the legal obligations they owe to consumers and investors. Any institution found to be violating the law will be held accountable.”

Even before Trump took office, DEI’s corporate decline had begun with companies like Tractor Supply, John Deere and Amazon cutting back DEI programs. Some of those cuts, though, began after Trump won the election in November.

Critics say DEI has become a catch-all term for every liberal and progressive doctrine around race and gender. Until this week, those ideas were backed with federal funding across every federal agency and most of the largest corporations in the U.S.

Now, however, the conservative resistance to DEI has new power and focus on rooting out the DEI programs, which teach everything from white privilege to the litany of gender pronouns to the inherent racism of all white people and the U.S. as a whole.

Trump’s executive actions this week immediately put all DEI federal employees on paid leave with plans to fire all of them in the coming weeks. It also required essentially an audit of all federal DEI activities and DEI contractors, ceasing funding for them as well.

Trump sent a memo to the federal agencies later in the week saying he has seen initial reports that some federal employees are seeking to hide DEI efforts by rebranding or changing the language they are using.

Now, many companies are following suit.

Whether this is a new reality or a temporary setback for DEI remains to be seen.

"Corporate leaders who embrace discriminatory D.E.I. practices should be afraid, but they shouldn’t be confused,” said GianCarlo Canaparo, a legal expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation. “Trump’s order is clear: no organization doing business with the federal government may use discriminatory D.E.I. practices and those that do are subject to non-payment on their federal contracts, federal enforcement, and qui tam suits.

“And any corporation, nonprofit, university, or association subject to federal regulation that engages in D.E.I. discrimination will be identified, publicized, investigated, and punished according to the nation's colorblind civil rights laws,” he added.

TikTok restored service to American users Sunday after temporarily shutting down in response to a Congressionally passed law upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court over its Chinese ownership.

The company said it was restoring service after President-elect Donald Trump pledged to sign an executive order to give TikTok more time to work out its ownership concerns.

"We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive," TikTok said in a statement. "It's a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States."

The Supreme Court on Friday ruled that the ban signed by President Joe Biden was constitutional.

"There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement, and source of community," the Supreme Court said in its decision. "But Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok's data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary. For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that the challenged provisions do not violate petitioners' First Amendment rights."

The ban enacted by Biden mandated that TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, sell by Jan. 19 or be shut down.

Federal lawmakers had argued the ban was necessary to safeguard sensitive data while the Chinese-owned company's legal team argued that it violates First Amendment rights, stating officials failed to provide sufficient evidence related to those concerns.

Trump had previously petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to delay the enforcement after expressing sympathy over TikTok's position. He asked that his incoming administration address the national security concerns through "political negotiations" rather than an outright ban.

"I’m asking companies not to let TikTok stay dark! I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security," Trump wrote on Sunday. "The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order."

Trump also said he'd like the U.S. "to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture. By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to say up."

• The Center Square reporter Shirleen Guerra contributed to this report.

President-elect Donald Trump, who is set to take office Monday, has made a series of promises of major executive actions on “day one” in office.

One of the simplest and more controversial of those “day one” plans is to pardon some of the Jan. 6 protesters currently behind bars or facing prosecution. The president has broad power to pardon, shown most recently when President Joe Biden pardoned his own son for crimes he committed or may have committed over more than a decade span.

But Trump’s “day one” executive orders are far from limited to pardons.

On energy policy, Trump has pledged to open up domestic oil drilling in a major way in an effort to lower costs for Americans and boost the energy industry. He has also promised to end a Biden-era rule that would require more than half of Americans to transition to electric vehicles over the next decade.

Trump has also consistently tapped into America’s frustration over the border crisis and broken immigration system.

Since President Joe Biden took office, more than 12 million illegal immigrants have entered the U.S., overwhelming some cities and raising national security concerns, since some migrants are on the federal terror watch list.

Trump has also promised to end transgender participation in women’s sports, something lawmakers in the House have already passed a bill to quench.

Trump has threatened “day one” tariffs as well, though it is unclear how wide-ranging those tariffs could be, since Trump likes to wield them as a negotiating tool against other nations.

On foreign policy, a ceasefire in the war between Hamas and Israel apparently has been reached, just days before Trump took office. In the Ukraine-Russia war, Trump promised on the campaign trail to put an end to that war "in 24 hours.”

In a series of campaign speeches and media interviews, Trump has promised some “day one” actions to address the border and immigration crises.

These actions include:

• Trump has plans to reinstate Title 42, a COVID-era policy that helps shut down the southern border.

• Trump has said he would also reinstate “Remain in Mexico,” a policy that Trump used during his first term that requires asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for their claim to be processed. Biden ended that policy and let migrants in and asked questions later.

• According to Politico, Trump is considering designating cartels south of the border as terrorist organizations, a policy once pushed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis when he was running for president that could open up a flood of new resources and executive powers at the border. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott designated the violent Venezuelan prison gang, Tren de Aragua, a foreign terrorist organization last year.

• Trump has threatened to end birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants born in the U.S., but it remains unclear if he has the Constitutional authority to do so since birthright citizenship is enshrined in the 14th Amendment.

• Trump has made overtly clear that he plans to kickstart a massive, never-before-seen deportation program for the millions of illegal immigrants in the U.S. Trump’s appointee as border czar, Tom Homan, has been clear saying publicly that Trump named this as a top priority when choosing him for the job.

“On day one, we will SHUT DOWN THE BORDER and start deporting millions of Biden's Illegal Criminals,” Trump said over the summer during the campaign. “We will once again put AMERICANS First and MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN!”