Trump signs executive orders ending federal DEI programs
Event Reviewed Automatically reviewed for factual accuracy, tone, and neutrality. Review does not check claims against cited sources. Last reviewed 20 October 2026.Trump signs executive orders ending federal diversity, equity and inclusion programs and directing agencies to target DEI practices in the private sector.
Trump signs Executive Order 14151, terminating diversity, equity and inclusion offices, positions and programs across the federal government. A second order the following day, Executive Order 14173, revokes Executive Order 11246 — the 1965 order governing federal contractor equal employment obligations — and directs agencies to identify DEI practices in the private sector for scrutiny.
Several large employers, among them Amazon in December 2024 and Meta on 10 January 2025, had scaled back internal DEI programs before the orders were signed; Target announced changes on 24 January 2025. The sequence is documented, but these decisions were not directed by the orders and the extent to which they were responses to them is not established here.
The orders were challenged in court. On 6 February 2026, in National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education v. Trump, the Fourth Circuit vacated the nationwide preliminary injunction a district court had entered against them and remanded, holding the plaintiffs unlikely to succeed on their facial challenges to the termination and certification provisions. The panel distinguished those facial claims from as-applied ones, noting that parties whose grants or contracts were terminated could sue over those terminations.
Sources
- 01.
Executive Office of the President. Executive Order 14151: Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing. (2025). Signed 20 January 2025, published 29 January 2025 at 90 FR 8339. Terminates federal DEI offices, positions and programs.
- 02.
Executive Office of the President. Executive Order 14173: Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity. (2025). Signed 21 January 2025, published 31 January 2025 at 90 FR 8633. Revokes Executive Order 11246 and directs agencies toward private-sector DEI practices.
- 03.
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education v. Trump, No. 25-1189. (2026). Published opinion, argued 11 September 2025 and decided 6 February 2026, on appeal from D. Md. No. 1:25-cv-00333-ABA. Chief Judge Diaz wrote for the panel: 'We therefore vacate the district court's order granting plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction, and remand for further proceedings.' The opinion holds plaintiffs unlikely to succeed on their facial challenges to the Termination and Certification Provisions and observes that plaintiffs whose grants or contracts were terminated 'can sue those actors,' distinguishing facial from as-applied challenges.
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