The New DE&I – Education on the 2025 Executive Orders

In January 2025, President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders aimed at dismantling federal Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs. An executive order is issued by the president of the United States and is a directive that manages the operations of the federal government. A court may overturn an executive order if it lacks support or is contrary to the U.S. Constitution. Executive orders do not override federal laws.

The goals of DEI within companies or organizations can take on many different meanings and can be implemented in several ways. CREW Denver’s mission encourages collaboration among members with varied backgrounds. These perspectives generate more incisive and deeper insights that better serve our members, our businesses, and our communities. As an organization, our approach to inclusion and diversity is rooted in listening, learning, and acting so that we may grow and do and be better for all.

Due to these executive orders, there has been confusion, fear, and a lack of understanding on how to move forward. Our hope is to provide fact-based information so each person or business can move forward more knowledgeable and with an understanding of the current DEI landscape.

On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14151, titled "Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing." This order is linked below, and we encourage all to read the executive orders. This mandates the termination of all DEI-related policies, programs, preferences, and activities within the federal government.

Why was Executive Order 14151 put into effect? According to the first portion of this executive order under “Purpose & Policy: The Biden Administration forced illegal and immoral discrimination programs, going by the name ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ (DEI)” and continues by rolling back Executive Order 13985 “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government”, put in place by President Biden.

Executive Order 14151 directs the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), assisted by the Attorney General, and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to “coordinate the termination of all discriminatory programs, including illegal DEI and ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility’ (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government.”  The first part of this implementation is to review and revise all programs, training policies, union contracts, and federal employment practices. Within 60 days of this executive order, each federal agency department or commission head in consultation with the parties listed above, shall, “terminate, to the maximum extent allowed by law, all DEI, DEIA, and ‘environmental justice’ offices and positions. This includes all ‘equity action plans’ initiatives, programs, grants or contracts. This includes Federal grantees who received Federal funding to provide or advance DEI, DEIA, or ‘environmental justice’ programs, services, or activities since January 20, 2021.”

The following day, January 21, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14173, titled "Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity." This order revokes Executive Order 11246 and eliminates long-standing affirmative action requirements for federal contractors. The basis of this executive order was to protect the longstanding Federal civil-rights laws, specifically Civil Rights Act of 1964, that protect individuals from discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. According to this executive order “Critical and influential institutions of American society, including the Federal Government, major corporations, financial institutions, the medical industry, large commercial airlines, law enforcement agencies, and institutions of higher education have adopted and actively use dangerous, demeaning, and immoral race – and sex-based preferences under the guise of so-call ‘diversity, equity, and inclusions’ (DEI) or ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility’ (DEIA) that can violate the civil-rights laws of this Nation.”

Section 4 of this executive order is called “Encouraging the Private Sector to End Illegal DEI Discrimination and Preferences.” According to this section, heads of all agencies, with the Attorney General and Director of OMB are to submit a report within 120 days of this order that provides “recommendations for enforcing Federal civil-rights laws and taking other appropriate measures to encourage the private sector to end illegal discrimination and preferences, including DEI.” Contained in the report are six bulleted objectives which we encourage all to read and understand.

What does this mean for DEI?
Executive Order 14173 revoked Executive Order 11246, which required certain federal contractors and subcontractors that employed at least 50 people and had $50,000 in contracts to implement affirmative action plans to prevent employment discrimination. The intent of this initial Executive Order was to promote equal employment opportunity. This, now, does not exist.

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) previously responsible for enforcing affirmative action mandates, has been directed to immediately stop promoting ‘diversity.’ Other federal anti-discrimination laws, including, but not limited to, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, etc., are to remain in effect.

All federal contractors and grant recipients must certify that they do not operate DEI programs that violate applicable federal anti-discrimination laws. New, renewed, or modified contracts will be affected under this requirement. The criteria for determining whether a DEI program violates these laws remains unclear. According to an article posted on Honigman Business Law’s website, (https://www.honigman.com/alert-2825) due to the administration's broader interpretation of “unlawful DEI initiatives”, businesses are encouraged to carefully review their programs and assess their compliance risks. Specifically, initiatives that use race- or gender-based hiring, promotion quotas, or selection for training participation are of the biggest flags when evaluating this potential risk. These executive orders do not directly prohibit DEI programs in private businesses that do not contract with the federal government, it seeks to discourage such initiatives.

Trump administration's early 2025 executive orders represent a significant shift in DEI landscape, policies, affecting government agencies, contractors, and private organizations. The full impact of these changes will continue to unfold as implementation progresses and legal challenges emerge.