Pursuant to the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and laws of the United States of America, it is ordered:
Section 1. Purpose. Longstanding federal civil rights laws protect Americans from discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. These civil rights protections serve as the foundation of equal opportunity for all Americans. As President, I have a solemn duty to ensure that these laws are enforced for the benefit of all Americans.
Yet today, approximately 60 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, critical and influential institutions in American society, including the federal government, large corporations, financial institutions, the medical industry, large Commercial airlines, law enforcement, and institutions of higher education have embraced and actively use dangerous, humiliating, and immoral preferences based on race and gender under the guise of so-called “diversity, fairness and inclusion” (DEI) or “diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility”. (DEIA) which may violate this nation’s civil rights laws.
The illegal policies of DEI and DEIA not only violate the text and spirit of our longstanding federal civil rights laws, but they also undermine our national unity, as they deny, discredit and undermine traditional American values of work hard work, excellence and individual success. in favor of an illegal, corrosive and pernicious system of identity spoils. Hard-working Americans who deserve a chance to achieve the American dream should not be stigmatized, demeaned, or denied opportunities because of their race or gender.
These illegal DEI and DEIA policies also threaten the safety of American men, women and children across the country by diminishing the importance of individual merit, aptitude, hard work and determination when selecting individuals. for jobs and services in key sectors of American society. including all levels of government and the medical, aviation and law enforcement communities. Yet in tragic incident after tragic incident, the American people have witnessed first-hand the disastrous consequences of unlawful and pernicious discrimination that prioritized how people were born over what they were capable of doing.
The federal government is responsible for enforcing our civil rights laws. The purpose of this order is to ensure that this is done by ending illegal preferences and discrimination.
Second. 2. Politics. It is the policy of the United States to protect the civil rights of all Americans and to promote individual initiative, excellence, and hard work. I therefore direct all executive departments and agencies (agencies) to terminate all discriminatory and unlawful preferences, mandates, policies, programs, activities, guidance, regulations, enforcement actions, consent orders, and requirements. I further direct all agencies to enforce our longstanding civil rights laws and combat illegal private sector DEI preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities.
Second. 3. End illegal discrimination in the federal government. (a) The following executive actions are hereby revoked:
(i) Executive Order 12898 of February 11, 1994 (Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority and Low-Income Populations);
(ii) Executive Order 13583 of August 18, 2011 (Establishing a Coordinated Government-Wide Initiative to Promote Diversity and Inclusion in the Federal Workforce);
(iii) Executive Order 13672 of July 21, 2014 (Other amendments to Executive Order 11478, Equal Employment Opportunity in the Federal Government, and Executive Order 11246, Equal Employment Opportunity); And
(iv) The Presidential Memorandum of October 5, 2016 (Promoting Diversity and Inclusion in the National Security Workforce).
(b) The federal procurement process must be streamlined to improve speed and efficiency, reduce costs, and require federal contractors and subcontractors to comply with our civil rights laws. Therefore:
(i) Executive Order 11246 of September 24, 1965 (Equal Employment Opportunity) is hereby repealed. For 90 days from the date of this order, federal contractors may continue to comply with the regulatory regime in effect on January 20, 2025.
(ii) The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs within the Department of Labor will immediately cease:
(A) Promote “diversity”;
(B) Hold federal contractors and subcontractors accountable for taking “affirmative action”; And
(C) Authorize or encourage Federal contractors and subcontractors to balance the workforce based on race, color, sex, sexual preference, religion, or national origin.
(iii) Pursuant to Executive Order 13279 of December 12, 2002 (Equal Protection of Laws for Faith-Based and Community-Based Organizations), the employment, procurement, and contracting practices of federal contractors and subcontractors shall not hold takes into account race, color, sex. , sexual preference, religion, or national origin in a manner that violates the nation’s civil rights laws.
(iv) The head of each agency must include in each contract or grant award:
(A) A condition requiring the contract counterparty or grant recipient to agree that its compliance in all respects with all applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws is material to the Government’s payment decisions for purposes of section 3729(b). )(4) of title 31, United States Code; And
(B) A condition requiring such counterparty or recipient to certify that it does not operate any program promoting DEI that violates applicable federal anti-discrimination laws.
(c) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), with the assistance of the Attorney General upon request, shall:
(i) Review and revise, as appropriate, all government-wide processes, directives and guidance;
(ii) Excise references to the DEI and DEIA principles, regardless of the name under which they appear, in federal acquisition, contracting, grant and financial assistance procedures to streamline these procedures, improve the speed and efficiency, reduce costs and comply with civil rights laws. ; And
(iii) End any “diversity,” “equity,” “equitable decision-making,” “equitable deployment of financial and technical assistance,” “promotion of equity” and other mandates, requirements, programs or activities similar, if applicable.
Second. 4. Encourage the private sector to end discrimination and illegal preferences of DEIs. (a) The heads of all agencies, with the assistance of the Attorney General, will take all appropriate actions with respect to the operations of their agencies to advance in the private sector the policy of individual initiative, excellence and of hard work identified in Section 2 of this order.
(b) To inform and advise me further so that my Administration may formulate appropriate and effective civil rights policy, the Attorney General, within 120 days of this order, in consultation with the heads of the appropriate agencies and in coordination with the OMB Director. , shall submit a report to the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy containing recommendations to enforce federal civil rights laws and take other appropriate actions to encourage the private sector to end discrimination and unlawful preferences , including DEI. The report must contain a proposed strategic application plan identifying:
(i) The main areas of concern falling within the jurisdiction of each agency;
(ii) The most blatant and discriminatory DEI practitioners in each relevant sector;
(iii) A plan of specific steps or measures to deter DEI programs or principles (whether specifically referred to as “DEI” or otherwise) that constitute discrimination or unlawful preferences. Under the plan, each agency will identify up to nine potential civil compliance investigations into publicly traded companies, large nonprofit corporations or associations, foundations with assets of $500 million or more, state and local bar and medical associations, and institutions of higher education with endowments in excess of $1 billion;
(iv) Other strategies to encourage the private sector to end discrimination and unlawful DEI preferences and to comply with all federal civil rights laws;
(v) Litigation that would be potentially appropriate for federal prosecution, intervention, or expression of interest; And
(vi) Potential regulatory measures and sub-regulatory guidance.
Second. 5. Other actions. Within 120 days of this order, the Attorney General and the Secretary of Education will jointly issue guidance to all state and local educational agencies that receive federal funds, as well as to all institutions of higher education that receive federal grants or participate in federal student loans. assistance program under Title IV of the Higher Education Act, 20 USC 1070 et seq., regarding measures and practices required to comply with Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, 600 US 181 (2023).
Second. 6. Divisibility. If any provision of this Ordinance, or the application of any provision to any person or circumstance, is found to be invalid, the remainder of this Ordinance and the application of its provisions to any other person or circumstance shall not be affected thereby.
Second. 7. Scope. (a) This order does not apply to statutory federal or private sector employment and contracting preferences for veterans of the United States Armed Forces or individuals protected by the Randolph-Sheppard Act, 20 USC 107 et seq. .
(b) This order does not prevent state or local governments, federal contractors, or state and local educational agencies or federally funded institutions of higher education from engaging in speech protected by the First Amendment.
(c) This order does not prohibit persons teaching at a federally funded institution of higher education as part of a broader academic educational program from advocating, endorsing, or promoting the employment or illegal contractual practices prohibited by this order.
Second. 8. General provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed as impairing or otherwise affecting:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department, agency or its head; Or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative or legislative proposals.
(b) This Order will be implemented in accordance with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to and does not create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies or entities, its officers, employees or agents, or any other person.
THE WHITE HOUSE,
January 21, 2025.
