What is DEI? Trump puts federal diversity employees on paid leave and moves to close offices

President says policies not only 'violate the text and spirit of our long-standing federal civil rights laws, they also undermine our national unity'

President Donald Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. AP

President Donald Trump, in one of the first executive orders issued after his inauguration on Monday, called for the end of all "illegal DEI" programmes in the federal government and the termination of all related positions and roles.

"Americans deserve a government committed to serving every person with equal dignity and respect, and to expending precious taxpayer resources only on making America great," he said in the order.

But what is DEI, and what does it mean for the future of the public and private sector?

What is DEI?

DEI stands for "diversity, equity and inclusion" and refers to programmes and frameworks aimed at promoting fair treatment and participation for all people.

Diversity is focused on the inclusion of everyone, regardless of race, ability, background, religion or gender, while equity is centred on providing equality of opportunity and equal treatment. Inclusion is focused on allowing every person to have a voice of equal value and creating a culture of openness to all ideas.

While "DEI" is a term that has only recently come to public attention, the concept has been around since the civil rights movement. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed employment discrimination based on race, religion, sex, colour and national origin, banned segregation in public places, and enabled Americans to sue workplaces that had discriminatory employment practices.

In the years following, companies began having diversity training, with the aim of instructing employees about bias and discrimination in the workplace. This practice was stimulated further by the murder of the black man George Floyd by police, which precipitated a wave of protests against racial discrimination across the country.

Why did Trump take action on DEI?

Mr Trump's executive order stated that DEI "policies not only violate the text and spirit of our long-standing federal civil rights laws, they also undermine our national unity".

The executive order picks up where Mr Trump's first administration left off: one of his final acts during his first term was an executive order banning federal agency contractors and recipients of federal funding from conducting anti-bias training that addressed concepts like systemic racism. Joe Biden promptly rescinded that order on his first day in office and issued a pair of executive orders – now rescinded – outlining a plan to promote DEI throughout the federal government.

DEI has taken centre stage in the so-called culture wars that have rocked the US in recent years. While proponents of DEI view it as a way to correct historical injustice and build a more inclusive future, critics say the concept discriminates against white men and moves the focus in the workplace away from merit and hard work.

In yet another executive order focused on "ending illegal discrimination and restoring merit-based opportunity", Mr Trump said DEI aimed to "deny, discredit and undermine the traditional American values of hard work, excellence, and individual achievement in favour of an unlawful, corrosive and pernicious identity-based spoils system".

"Hardworking Americans who deserve a shot at the American dream should not be stigmatised, demeaned or shut out of opportunities because of their race or sex," the order said.

When he was serving as a senator from Ohio, Vice President JD Vance introduced a piece of legislation that would have eliminated DEI programmes from the federal government. "The DEI agenda is a destructive ideology that breeds hatred and racial division ... Americans’ tax dollars should not be co-opted to spread this radical and divisive ideology," he said.

'Taking our country backward'

Critics of Mr Trump's actions have called his executive orders a major step backward. “Instead of working to create economic opportunities that will allow Americans to get ahead, build generational wealth and achieve the American dream, President Trump on day one of his administration signed an executive order to systematically dismantle all diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives within the federal government,” congressional Black Caucus chairwoman Yvette Clarke said in a statement.

She added that Republicans had set their sights on “cutting off access to economic opportunity for Black and minority communities in the federal government, on college campuses and in corporate America” since the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision that said race could not be a factor in college admissions, and called the executive order “nothing short of an attempt to take our country backward".