Shortly after his swearing in, President Donald Trump reinstated his ban on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the federal government. The move was a much-needed correction to former President Joe Biden’s platform of racial preferences and discrimination.

It also mirrors stances that elected officials across the country were already taking.

Even before Trump’s inauguration, the new heads of state in Indiana and West Virginia had passed broad orders eliminating DEI in their respective states. The expediency of these orders is as impressive as their breadth: West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrissey and Indiana Gov. Mike Braun were both sworn in on January 13, and DEI was gone the next day.

This speed demonstrated a broader desire on the part of the newly elected leaders to meet voter expectations. But it also reflected a recognition that state-facilitated DEI offices and anti-bias training programs violate both civil rights law and U.S. Supreme Court rulings.

Braun’s executive order in Indiana specifically ordered state offices to “adhere to the decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College,” the High Court’s opinion from 2023 that ruled against the use of race in college admissions.

That ruling had more to say about civil rights than just striking colleges’ use of racial preferences, though. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote, “Eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it.”

Accordingly, Braun’s order requires state officials to review DEI positions and departments across state agencies, and forbids the use of taxpayer dollars for programs that use racial preferences (such as quotas for hiring based on race). The order also abolished DEI trainings and ended requirements for job applicants to submit DEI statements (otherwise known as “loyalty oaths”).

The executive order in West Virginia was even more sweeping.

There, Gov. Morrissey ordered a review of DEI offices and positions, calling for state officials to submit a plan to eliminate these departments within 90 days. Morrissey’s order also ended the use of taxpayer spending on DEI activities.

State policymakers cannot seem to remove DEI fast enough.

The University of Georgia Board of Regents ended the practice of accepting DEI statements in admissions decisions before their current students had even left for Thanksgiving break last year. University of North Carolina officials did the same last spring.

Policymakers in nearly a dozen other states have adopted similar policies. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds approved a legislative proposal last year prohibiting DEI on college campuses — a prohibition that led the Iowa University Board of Regents to change its strategic plan and remove DEI from its guiding documents.

But these are just the examples in education.

The private sector is watching closely as lawmakers act against DEI, and many companies are acting to anticipate legal challenges to corporate DEI operations. The Society for Human Resource Management, the world’s largest association for HR professionals, has moved away from use of the term “equity” in its promotional materials. Walmart, McDonald's, Meta and Microsoft— along with other Fortune 500 companies — have all scuttled or otherwise trimmed DEI offices in the last six months.

According to the news site Axios, McDonald’s officials and those of other corporations cited the Students for Fair Admissions’ decision in their move to cut DEI programs. Smart. State attorneys general have consistently been warning companies about their use of racial preferences in hiring and HR policies. The new executive orders from governors will only heighten the attention on DEI’s racial discrimination.

Now the federal government is taking decisive anti-DEI — and pro-meritocracy — actions again.

During his first term, Trump issued an executive order blocking diversity training in the federal workforce. Biden’s administration countered this, pushing “equity” throughout federal offices so voters should have anticipated the second Trump administration would move quickly on DEI. Some Washington DEI officials had already headed for the door, as the FBI closed its DEI office at the end of last year.

These changes have all come at a rapid clip. The executive orders in West Virginia and Indiana, along with the new strategy from Iowa’s Board of Regents and Meta’s decision to cut DEI, all occurred within days of each other. McDonald’s DEI cuts came just before them.

Last year, companies were said to be “quiet quitting” DEI. Things aren’t so quiet anymore.

____

Jonathan Butcher is the Will Skillman Senior Research Fellow in education policy at The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Education Policy.

_____

©2025 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.