Blog

Shortly after President Trump won the 2024 election, I wrote a blog post asking if DEI would survive a second Trump term. Since his inauguration, President Trump has issued three executive orders targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) (Executive Order 14151, Executive Order 14173, and Executive Order 14168) as well as two executive orders targeting environmental, social, and governance (ESG) (Executive Order 14154 and Executive Order 14259.)

The orders terminated all DEI positions in the federal government, banned contractors from using it in hiring, directed the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate its use in the private sector for civil rights violations, directed the Attorney General to identify and block enforcement of state/local ESG laws, and rescinded all previous Biden ESG and DEI executive orders.

The Trump administration has taken unprecedented steps to weed out DEI and ESG in both the public and private sectors by ending programs and cutting funding. A recent example of the administration’s willingness to use its power to tackle the threat is when the Atlanta Airport lost over $37 million in grants for refusing to end its DEI programs. The administration also halted $18 billion in funding for infrastructure projects in NYC due to concerns about the city’s diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.

State governments have also taken steps to address the issue. So far, 22 states have banned or restricted DEI and ESG. Earlier this year, financial officers from 21 states sent a warning letter to the nation’s largest banks urging them to end woke investing policies.

Texas enacted a parental bill of rights, which banned DEI duties and instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation in public K-12 schools. Over in Indiana, State Attorney General Todd Rokita moved to block state contracts with law firms that engage in any diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in response to an executive order from Governor Braun.

Before stepping down in August to become the Co-Deputy Director of the FBI, former Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey sued IBM and Starbucks for their discriminatory DEI policies and launched an investigation into two foreign-owned proxy advisory firms for promoting ESG.

Many blue states and cities have resisted the DEI and ESG purge. Recently, a coalition of blue state attorney generals filed legal challenges against President Trump’s executive orders. Regardless, countless companies, universities, government agencies, non-profits, and locales are complying.

ESG and DEI aren’t just bad ideas; they harm our economy, divide our country, and increasingly violate state and federal law. Even if they do survive Trump’s second term, they will undoubtedly be shells of their former selves.