In the midst of the Civil Rights Movement, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Executive Order 11246 on September 24, 1965.¹ This order, following the Civil Rights Act of 1964,² intended to charge “the Secretary of Labor…with strong enforcement authority” to ensure federal employers did not discriminate against employees “on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.”³ This sixty year long order has become cemented in federal law as a safeguard against discriminatory action. However, on the second day of his second term, President Donald J. Trump issued an Executive Order titled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity”⁴ which gutted the actions taken in 1965.

It is no surprise that the Trump Administration has chosen to take this action. Since his loss in 2020, President Trump has promised his base that he will roll back “woke” diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) policies in exchange for the restoration of merits opportunities. As defined by the order, merit is dependent on “traditional American values” such as “hard work, excellence, and individual achievement” instead of a “pernicious identity-based spoils system.”⁵ This order is the cherry on top of the trail of conservative efforts to eliminate DEI programs in workplaces, schools, and other institutions.⁶ However, unlike the work of his conservative counterparts like Ron Desantis,⁷ President Trump’s order will have far more reaching impacts that have already begun.

On a national level, companies have swiftly made the unilateral decision to revoke their DEI policies in line with Trump’s directive. Target,⁸ Meta,⁹ Amazon,¹⁰ McDonald’s,¹¹ Walmart,¹² Ford,¹³ Lowe’s,¹⁴ Harley-Davidson,¹⁵ Brown-Forman,¹⁶ John Deere,¹⁷ and Tractor Supply¹⁸ have all made statements pertaining to their current DEI policies either being eliminated or under review. Despite many of these companies being in the private sector, the Attorney General¹⁹ has been tapped to send a report “to the White House…[that] include[s] specific industry, non-profit and universities to target for investigation[] and possible litigation over alleged violations of the new policy against DEI and affirmative action.”²⁰ This vague language leaves room for the Trump administration to fulfill their promise to punish companies that either “depend on federal funding or hold government contracts.”²¹

While many companies have played into the hand of the Trump Administration, some companies are fighting back. Goldman Sachs,²² Costco,²³ and JPMorgan Chase & Co²⁴ have come out strongly in defiance of the directives of the administration, stating they will continue to support DEI initiatives. This effort is a part of the larger movement to create resistance in spite of the consequences that may follow.

The dismantling of DEI policies under President Trump’s order marks a pivotal moment in the ongoing battle for equity in workplaces and institutions across the nation. While some companies have capitulated to this new directive, others are standing firm, embodying the resilience and commitment to inclusivity that Executive Order 11246 sought to protect nearly six decades ago. As the ripple effects of this policy unfold, the tension between progress and regression highlights the enduring importance of vigilance and advocacy in safeguarding civil rights and fostering equitable opportunities for all.

1 U.S. Dept. of Labor, History of Executive Order 11246, https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ofccp/about/executive-order-11246-history (last visited Jan. 25, 2025).
2 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 “prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Provisions of this civil rights act forbade discrimination on the basis of sex, as well as, race in hiring, promoting, and firing.” This act has become a “benchmark [of] civil rights legislation…end[ing] the application of “Jim Crow” laws, which had been upheld by the Supreme Court in the 1896 case Plessy v. Ferguson, in which the Court held that racial segregation purported to be “separate but equal” was constitutional. The Civil Rights Act was eventually expanded by Congress to strengthen enforcement of these fundamental civil rights.” U.S. Dept. of Labor, Legal Highlight: The Civil Rights Act of 1964, https://www.dol.gov/agencies/oasam/civil-rights-center/statutes/civil-rights-act-of-1964#:~:text=In%201964%2C%20Congress%20passed%20Public,hiring%2C%20promoting%2C%20and%20firing (last visited Jan. 25, 2025).
3 U.S. Dept. of Labor, supra note 1.
4 White House, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity (Jan. 21, 2025), https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-illegal-discrimination-and-restoring-merit-based-opportunity/.
5 Id.
6 See Laura Pappano, ‘Fear Hovering Over Us’: As Florida Dismantles DEI, Some on Campuses are Pushing Back, USA Today (May 3, 2024, 5:22 A.M.), https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/05/03/florida-campuses-push-back-anti-dei-laws/73525317007/; Lily Kepner and Kayla Jimenez, What Does a DEI Ban Mean on a College Campus? Here’s How It’s Affecting Texas Students, USA Today (Apr. 5, 2024, 5:31 A.M.), https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/04/05/dei-ban-university-of-texas-sb-17/73206765007/; Vinay Bhaskara, DEI Is Under Attack at Colleges and Universities, Forbes (Jul. 7, 2023, 9:00 A.M), https://www.forbes.com/sites/vinaybhaskara/2023/07/07/dei-is-under-attack-at-colleges-and-universities/.
7 See Frank Cerabino, How Dare Women go to College? DeSantis’ New University Trustee Pick Will Fix It, The Palm Beach Post (Jan. 15, 2025, 5:12 A.M.), https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/opinion/columns/2025/01/15/florida-yenor-boise-idaho-university-west-florida/77671402007/; Jaclyn Diaz, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Signs a Bill Banning DEI Initiatives in Public Colleges, NPR (May 15, 2025, 5:46 P.M.), https://www.npr.org/2023/05/15/1176210007/florida-ron-desantis-dei-ban-diversity.
8 Associated Press, These U.S. Companies are Pulling Back on Diversity Initiatives, Time (Jan. 24, 2025, 4:25 P.M.), https://time.com/7209960/companies-rolling-back-dei/ (Target made “changes to its “Belonging at the Bullseye” strategy [which] include[s] ending a program it established to help Black employees build meaningful careers, improve the experience of Black shoppers and to promote Black-owned businesses…”).
9 Id. (“The parent company of Facebook and Instagram said it was getting rid of its diversity, equity and inclusion program, which featured policies for hiring, training, and picking vendors.”).
10 Id. (“Amazon said it was halting some outfits DEI programs, although it did not specify which ones.”).
11 Id. (“Four years after launching a push for more diversity in its ranks, McDonald’s said…that it is ending some of its diversity practices, citing [Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard College].”).
12 Id. (Walmart stated “that it would not be renewing a five-year commitment for an equity racial center set up in 2020 after the police killing of George Floyd, and that it would stop participating in the HRC’s Corporate Equality Index.”).
13 Id. (“CEO Jim Farley sent a memo to the automaker’s employees…outlining changes to the company’s DEI policies, including a decision to stop taking part in HRC’s Corporate Equality Index.”).
14 Associated Press, supra note 7 (“The retailer [] will no longer participate in the HRC index, and will stop sponsoring and participating in events, such as festivals and parades, that are outside of its business areas.”).
15 Id. (“The motorcycle maker said it would no longer participate in the ranking of workplace equality compiled by the Human Rights Campaign, and that its trainings would be related to the needs of the business and absent of socially motivated content.”).
16 Id. (“The parent company of Jack Daniels also pulled out from participating in the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, among other changes. Its leaders sent an email to employees in August saying the company launched its diversity and inclusion strategy in 2019, but since then “the world has evolved, our business has changed, and the legal and external landscape has shifted dramatically.””).
17 Id. (“The farm equipment maker said in July that it would no longer sponsor “social or cultural awareness” events, and that it would audit all training materials “to ensure the absence of socially-motivated messages” in compliance with federal and local laws.”).
18 Id. (“The retailer…said it would be eliminating all of its DEI roles while retiring current DEI goals. The company added that it would “stop sponsoring non-business activities” such as Pride festivals or voting campaigns—and no longer submit data for the HRC index.”).
19 Alanna Durkin Richer, Who is Trump’s Attorney General Pick Pam Bondi? The Former Prosecutor is a Close Trump Ally, AP (Jan. 15, 2025, 4:59 PM), https://apnews.com/article/pam-bondi-justice-department-trump-attorney-general-4b94c094cfcabf606e4883fe709ab55a.
20 Scott M. Heimberg et. al., Executive Order: Ending DEI and Affirmative Action for Federal Contractors/Grant Recipients (Jan. 24, 2025), https://www.akingump.com/en/insights/alerts/executive-order-ending-dei-and-affirmative-action-for-federal-contractorsgrant-recipients#authors.
21 Jessica Guynn, Trump Message to Corporate America: Stop ‘illegal’ DEI or Face Investigations, USA Today (Jan. 22, 2025, 2:55 P.M.), https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2025/01/22/trump-to-corporations-stop-dei/77882451007/.
22 Kiara Alfonseca, These Companies are Standing By Their DEI Policies Amid Backlash, ABC News (Jan. 23, 2025, 9:20 P.M.), https://abcnews.go.com/Business/companies-sticking-dei-amid-backlash/story?id=118037109 (Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said that their clients “think about decarbonization, they think about climate transition…they think about their businesses, how they find talent, the diversity of talent they find all over the world. You know we operate a big global business and we serve global clients everywhere. We think about these issues through the lens of, how do we help our clients navigate these things? And we continue to stay focused on talking to our clients and doing the things we have always done.”).
23 Id. (Costco’s Board of Directors put out a statement stating that their “efforts around diversity, equity and inclusion follow our code of ethics…for our employees these efforts are built around inclusion—having all of our employees feel valued and respected. [Costco’s] efforts at diversity, equity and inclusion remind and reinforce with everyone at [the] [c]ompany the importance of creating opportunities for all. [They] believe that these efforts enhance [their] capacity to attract and retain employees who will help [their] business succeed.”).
24 Id. (JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said “[w]e will continue to reach out to the Black community, the Hispanic community, the veterans community, LGBTQ, we have teams with second chance initiatives—where I go, with blue states, red states, governors, they like what we do[.]”).