Department of Defense (DoD) is the latest agency to disband all Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs following President Donald Trump’s executive order ending all federal DEI programs.
“The President’s directive (legal order) is clear: No more DEI at the Department of Defense,” Defense Minister Pete Hegseth he wrote in a post on X.
In a handwritten note shared with the post on X, Hegseth wrote: “The Pentagon will comply, immediately. No exceptions, name changes or delays.”
Hegseth added that “those who don’t comply will no longer work here.”
WHITE HOUSE OPM ORDERS ALL DEI OFFICES TO BEGIN CLOSING BY LATE WEDNESDAY
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., echoed Hegseth, writing, “The best way to stop discriminating against people based on race or gender is to stop discriminating against people based on race or gender,” Kennedy wrote in a post on X. “Let DEI die .”
Hegseth, 44, was sworn in Saturday morning after being confirmed Friday to lead the Pentagon after weeks of intense political drama surrounding his nomination and public scrutiny of his private life.
“All praise and glory to God. His will be done and we are grateful to be here,” Hegseth said after being sworn in, surrounded by his wife and children.
Hegseth is a former Minnesota National Guard officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and a former Fox News anchor.
The Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, has announced that he is ending all DEI programs and policies at the Pentagon. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Trump’s newly established Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE), headed by Elon Muskreported that about $420 million in current/upcoming contracts, mostly focused on DEI initiatives, were also canceled.
On Inauguration Day, Trump signed the executive order which forced all DEI offices to close and sent all government employees in those offices on paid leave.
TRUMP’S FEDERAL DEI PURGE OF HOLIDAY STATES, CANCELS $420 MILLION IN CONTRACTS
Pete Hegseth is surrounded by his wife and seven children as he is sworn in as the new Secretary of Defense by Vice President JD Vance in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House in Washington, DC on January 25, 2025. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP)
Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Acting Director Charles Ezell sent a memo to heads and acting heads of departments and agencies ordering them to notify all agency employees of the DEI shutdown by close of business on Jan. 22. In addition, they were directed to tell workers directly involved with DEI to remove all DEI-related websites and social media accounts, cancel any related contracts or training, and ask employees to report any attempts to cover up DEI’s programs by using coded or imprecise language.
The memo also directed agency and department heads to provide OPM by noon on January 23 with lists of all DEI offices, employees and related contracts effective November 5, 2024.
By Friday, Jan. 24, at 5 p.m., agency heads were required to submit to OPM a written plan to implement the reduction in force with respect to DEI employees and a list of any contract descriptions or staff job descriptions that have changed since November 5, 2024, to cover up their connection to DEI programs.
The president also signed an order stating that “the official policy of the United States government recognizes only two genders: male and female.”
President Trump has targeted gender identity and diversity in executive orders. (Getty Images/AP)
Trump issued two more enforcement actions directed at DEI — an executive order to end discrimination in the workplace and in higher education through race- and gender-based preferences under the guise of DEI, and a memo to eliminate the Biden administration’s policy that prioritized hiring DEI at the Federal Aviation Administration.
Trump wrote in his executive order that he wants to protect Americans from discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. He said that these civil rights protections “serve as the foundation that supports equality of opportunity for all Americans” and that he “has a solemn duty to ensure that these laws are implemented for the benefit of all Americans.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Yet today, some 60 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, critical and influential institutions of American society, including the federal government, large corporations, financial institutions, the medical industry, major commercial airlines, law enforcement agencies, and institutions of higher education have adopted and actively use dangerous, degrading, and immoral attitudes based on race and gender under the guise of so-called “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) or “diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) that may violate the civil rights laws of this nation,” the order said.
It added that these “unlawful DEI and DEIA policies also threaten the safety of American men, women and children across the Nation by undermining individual merit, ability, hard work and determination in selecting people for jobs and service in key sectors of American society, including at all levels of government, medical, aviation and law enforcement communities.
Prior to Trump’s order, the FBI closed its DEI office in December.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman, Brie Stimson, Michael Dorgan and Landon Mion contributed to this report.
Stepheny Price is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. Tips and story ideas can be sent to stepheny.price@fox.com
