President Trump is wasting no time ending the federal government's promotion of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies, also known as DEI.

Within hours of taking back the presidency, Trump placed all federal DEI staffers on paid leave and ordered all diversity programs to be closed.

It's a stark reversal from the Biden administration, which vigorously promoted DEI initiatives - designed to increase the representation of minority groups by actively discriminating against whites - throughout the federal government.

DEI staff on leave

The Office of Personnel Management issued a memo Tuesday ordering agencies to put DEI staff on leave by 5 p.m. Wednesday. The memo also called for all DEI-related government websites to be shut down.

By Thursday, agencies must provide complete lists of all DEI staff and offices existing as of Election Day. By Friday, agencies must submit a written plan for laying off these employees.

The OPM memo also instructs staffers to report if they suspect any DEI programs have been disguised with code names.

Orders target DEI in government

Trump also issued a pair of sweeping executive orders targeting DEI programs in the government, federal contracting, higher education, and the private sector.

In particular, Trump ended racial hiring quotas in federal contracting that were instituted by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Trump's order also directs the attorney general to provide, within 120 days, recommendations on enforcing federal civil rights law and encouraging the private sector to "end illegal discrimination and preferences."

Similarly, the order calls on the attorney general and education secretary to issue guidance within 120 days to all state and local education agencies, as well as higher education institutions, that receive federal funding on their obligations to comply with the Supreme Court's 2023 ruling that ended affirmative action.

The order instructs agencies to identify at least nine potential civil compliance investigations of publicly traded corporations, large non-profit corporations or associations, foundations with assets of 500 million dollars or more, State and local bar and medical associations, and institutions of higher education with endowments over 1 billion dollars.

Crackdown on discrimination

While defenders of DEI programs say they are necessary to rectify discrimination against minorities, the Trump administration argues such policies violate the spirit and text of federal civil rights laws.

"Illegal DEI and DEIA policies not only violate the text and spirit of our longstanding Federal civil-rights laws, they also 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 order states.

A backlash against DEI, transgenderism, and other "woke" ideologies has been credited as one factor in Trump's shocking re-election.

Some major U.S. corporations have already reversed DEI initiatives, which took off after the death of George Floyd in 2020 sparked protests and riots. President Trump began rolling back DEI in 2020, but those efforts were derailed by Joe Biden's rise to power.