End illegal discrimination and restore merit-based opportunities – The White House

By the authority vested in me as President under the Constitution and laws of the United States, it is hereby ordered:

Section 1. Purpose. Longstanding federal civil rights laws protect individual Americans from discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. These civil rights protections serve as a foundation that supports 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.

But today, some 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 pharmaceutical industry, major commercial airlines, law enforcement agencies and institutions. of higher education have adopted and actively use dangerous, degrading, and immoral race- and gender-based preferences under the guise of so-called “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) or “diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility” (DEIA) that may violate civil rights laws of this nation.

Unlawful DEI and DEIA policies not only violate the letter and spirit of our long-standing federal civil rights laws, they also undermine our national unity as they deny, discredit, and undermine the traditional American values ​​of hard work, excellence, and individual achievement in favoring an illegal, corrosive and harmful identity-based exchange system. Hardworking Americans who deserve a shot at the American Dream should not be stigmatized, belittled, or shut out of 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 nation by diminishing the importance of individual merit, aptitude, hard work, and determination when selecting people for jobs and services in key sectors of the American community, including all levels of government and the medical, aviation, and law enforcement communities. But in a tragic case, the American people have witnessed firsthand the disastrous consequences of illegal, harmful discrimination that has prioritized how people were born over what they were capable of doing.

The federal government is tasked with enforcing our civil rights laws. The purpose of this order is to ensure that it does so by putting an end to unlawful preferences and discrimination.

Sec. 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 order all executive departments and agencies (agencies) to end all discriminatory and unlawful preferences, mandates, policies, programs, activities, guidance, regulations, enforcement actions, consent orders, and requirements. I am also ordering all agencies to enforce our long-standing civil rights laws and combat illegal DEI preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and private sector activities.

Sec. 3. Ending Unlawful 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 (further amendments to Executive Order 11478, Equal Employment Opportunity in the Federal Government, and Executive Order 11246, Equal Employment Opportunity); and
(iv) Presidential Memorandum dated October 5, 2016 (promoting diversity and inclusion in the national security workforce).
(b) The federal contracting process must be streamlined to increase speed and efficiency, reduce costs, and require federal contractors and subcontractors to comply with our civil rights laws. Therefore:
(i) Executive order 11246 of 24 September 1965 (Equal employment opportunities) 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 shall immediately cease:
(A) Promoting “diversity”;
(B) Hold Federal contractors and subcontractors accountable for taking “affirmative action”; and
(C) Permitting or encouraging Federal contractors and subcontractors to engage in workforce balancing based on race, color, sex, sexual preference, religion, or national origin.
(iii) In accordance with Executive Order 13279 of December 12, 2002 (Equal Protection of the Laws for Faith-Based and Community Organizations), the employment, procurement, and contracting practices of federal contractors and subcontractors shall not take into account race, color, sex. , sexual preference, religion, or national origin in ways that violate the nation’s civil rights laws.
(iv) The head of each agency shall include in any contract or grant award:
(A) A condition requiring the contracting party or grantee to agree that its compliance in all respects with all applicable federal antidiscrimination 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 programs promoting DEI that violate any applicable federal nondiscrimination law.
(c) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) shall, with the assistance of the Attorney General as requested:
(i) Review and revise, where appropriate, all government-wide processes, directives and guidance;
(ii) Excise references to the DEI and DEIA principles, by whatever name they may appear, from federal acquisition, contracting, grant, and financial assistance procedures to streamline those procedures, improve speed and efficiency, lower costs, and comply with civil rights laws; and
(iii) Discontinue all “diversity,” “equity,” “fair decision-making,” “fair use of financial and technical assistance,” “promote equity” and similar mandates, requirements, programs or activities, as applicable.

Sec. 4. Encouraging the private sector to end illegal DEI discrimination and preferences. (a) The heads of all agencies, with the assistance of the Attorney General, shall take all appropriate measures in the operation of their agencies to promote in the private sector the policies of individual initiative, excellence, and hard work identified in section 2 of this order.
(b) To further inform and advise me so that my Administration may formulate appropriate and effective civil rights policy, the Attorney General, in consultation with the heads of appropriate agencies and in coordination with the Director of OMB, shall, within 120 days of this order, submit a report to the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy containing recommendations to enforce federal civil rights laws and take other appropriate action to encourage the private sector to end unlawful discrimination and preferences, including DEI. The report shall include a proposed strategic enforcement plan that identifies:
(i) key sectors of concern within each agency’s jurisdiction;
(ii) The most egregious and discriminatory DEI practitioners within each sector of concern;
(iii) A plan of specific steps or measures to discourage DEI programs or policies (whether specifically designated as “DEI” or otherwise) that constitute unlawful discrimination or preferences. As part of this plan, each agency must identify up to nine potential civil compliance investigations of publicly traded corporations, large not-for-profit 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 over $1 billion;
(iv) Other strategies to encourage the private sector to end unlawful DEI discrimination and preferences and comply with all federal civil rights laws;
(v) Litigation that would potentially be appropriate for federal litigation, intervention, or expressions of interest; and
(vi) Potential Regulatory Actions and Subregulatory Guidance.

Sec. 5. Other Actions. Within 120 days of this order, the Attorney General and the Secretary of Education shall 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 the federal student loan assistance program pursuant to title IV of Higher Education Act, 20 USC 1070 et seq., regarding the measures and practices required to comply with Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, 600 US 181 (2023).

Sec. 6. Separation. If any provision of this Order, or the application of any provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the remainder of this Order and the application of its provisions to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.

Sec. 7. Scope. (a) This order does not apply to legitimate federal or private employment and contracting preferences for veterans of the United States armed forces or persons protected by the Randolph-Sheppard Act, 20 USC 107 et seq.
(b) This executive order does not prevent state or local governments, federal contractors, or federally funded state and local educational institutions or institutions of higher education from engaging in First Amendment-protected speech.
(c) This executive order does not prohibit persons teaching at a federally funded institution of higher education as part of a larger academic course from advocating, endorsing, or promoting the unlawful employment or contracting practices prohibited by this executive order.

Sec. 8. General provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department, agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget in relation to budgetary, administrative or legislative proposals.
(b) This order must be implemented in accordance with applicable law and subject to the availability of funds.
(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,
21 January 2025.