President Trump’s administration is moving quickly to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives from the federal government. 

The Office of Personnel Management issued a memorandum ordering federal agencies to close DEI offices by 5 p.m. on Wednesday. Every federal employee in a DEI role was placed on leave and will likely be laid off or reassigned as the offices are shut down.

The memo also directs employees to disclose any DEI programs disguised with “imprecise language,” take down any “outward-facing media,” such as websites or social media accounts for DEI offices, end any DEI training, and terminate DEI-related contractors.

The memo comes after Mr. Trump issued several executive orders targeting DEI. On Monday, he signed an executive order rescinding several of President Biden’s orders promoting DEI in the federal government. 

On his second day in office, Mr. Trump issued an executive order aimed at ending DEI programs in private-sector workplaces and at universities. The order states that federal civil rights laws “protect individual Americans from discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin,” which are a “bedrock supporting equal opportunity.”

However, the order states, DEI initiatives are “dangerous, demeaning, and immoral race- and sex-based preferences,” which “can violate the civil rights of this nation.” The order says such initiatives “undermine national unity” and “discredit” the “traditional American values of hard work, excellence, and individual achievement.” 

“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,” the order states. “I therefore order all executive departments and agencies (agencies) to terminate all discriminatory and illegal preferences, mandates, policies, programs, activities, guidance, regulations, enforcement actions, consent orders, and requirements.”

Mr. Trump’s order is not solely focused on ending Biden-era policies but rather aims to take a broader approach to root out what his administration considers harmful diversity initiatives going back decades to the dawn of affirmative action in America.

Among the targets — Executive Order 11246, which was signed in 1965. That order requires certain companies that contract with the federal government to create “affirmative action” plans with detailed “goals and timetables” for the “placement” of women and minorities in their companies. To enforce that order, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program was directed to audit contractors’ affirmative action plans and hiring and pay practices. Companies that were not in compliance with the order could have faced financial penalties under the since-rescinded order. 

Mr. Trump’s order also encourages federal agencies to develop plans to deter companies, colleges, and universities from engaging in DEI practices going forward.

Mr. Trump also signed an executive order that eliminates DEI hiring practices at the Federal Aviation Administration. 

“Americans trust the FAA’s public servants with their lives, and it is therefore imperative that they maintain a commitment to excellence and efficiency,” the order states. “During the prior administration, however, the FAA betrayed its mission by elevating dangerous discrimination over excellence.”

The order states that such practices harm “all Americans, who deserve to fly with confidence,” and “penalizes hard-working Americans who want to serve in the FAA but are unable to do so, as they lack a requisite disability or skin color.”

Additionally, it directs the transportation secretary to return to merit-based hiring, end all DEI initiatives, review “past performance and performance standards” of employees in “critical safety positions,”  and replace those who have “failed to demonstrate requisite capability” with “high-capability” individuals.”

The DEI executives come after Mr. Trump’s promise to eliminate such initiatives from the federal government. In his first hours as president, he signed dozens of executive orders reversing Mr. Biden’s policies and seeking to advance several of his priorities. While they have garnered much attention, several – such as one that seeks to curb birthright citizenship – are already facing legal challenges, and it is unclear how many will be upheld.