Lawmakers Look To Codify Trump’s Orders Killing DEI

From divisive critical race theory to preferred pronouns, President Donald Trump is exorcising the demons of DEI from the federal government. But executive orders last only as long as the executive in charge. In four years, the Woketopus, as the Daily Signal’s Tyler O’Neill aptly calls the many-tentacled swamp creature that usually runs the executive branch, could be back in control. 

Several House Republicans want to make sure the specter of toxic diversity, equity, and inclusion policies doesn’t rear its ugly head on the federal taxpayers’ dime again. 

Reps. Tom Tiffany, Burgess Owens, Claudia Tenney, Andy Ogles and others have reintroduced the Fairness, Anti-Discrimination and Individual Rights (FAIR) Act, aimed at following through on Trump’s executive orders demanding that federal DEI programs die — and stay dead. 

Specifically, the legislation bars federal agencies, federal contractors, states, universities, or any other recipient of federal funds from “intentionally discriminating against or granting a preference to any person or group based on race, color, or national origin.”

“The FAIR Act reflects a belief I’ve held my entire life: success comes from merit and hard work, not the color of your skin. The federal government must lead by example, promoting unity and opportunity through a commitment to equal treatment for every single American,” Owens, a 73-year-old black lawmaker from Utah, said in a statement. He added that he lived in the Jim Crow South as a child and that no matter how it’s presented, “preference under the banner of equity is just plain racism.” 

Tiffany, who represents Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District, said the legislation delivers on the president’s promise to end DEI policies by getting rid of race-based preferences on the federal front. Ending discrimination, the lawmaker asserts, begins with putting an end to the federal government’s own discriminatory practices. 

“We believe this should be codified into statute,” Tiffany told The Federalist in a recent interview. “The federal government should not play favorites and everyone should be treated equally.” 

That’s not how it’s worked for several years under the DEI agenda. Preferences of all kinds have been the unholy hallmark of the Biden administration. Courts have repeatedly found the special treatment practices discriminatory and, ultimately, unconstitutional. 

‘Pernicious’ Programs

In 2021, a federal court blocked the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s loan forgiveness programs exclusively for minority farmers and ranchers. A lawsuit filed on behalf of ag producers in several states argued that the billions of taxpayer dollars to be handed out based on racial categories was a blatant and unconditional act of discrimination. Under the “historic” USDA program, white farmers and others need not apply. 

The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty led the national lawsuit. An analysis published by the Milwaukee-based conservative law firm tracked at least 60 federal discriminatory taxpayer-funded programs enshrined in federal law. WILL’s Roadmap to Equality, which seeks to dismantle the “Equity Agenda,” identifies at least $124 billion in annual costly and constitutionally suspect initiatives.  

The USDA alone operates more than two dozen race-based programs that discriminate against farmers, according to the analysis. The U.S. Department of Treasury’s $10 billion Homeowner Assistance Fund was designed to prevent mortgage delinquencies and defaults, foreclosures, loss of utilities or home energy services, and displacement of homeowners experiencing financial hardship” — but only if the beneficiary meets a certain “equity” profile. 

“In comparison to previous programs to assist homeowners, such as those launched during the Great Recession, HAF is uniquely focused on equity and meeting the needs of low-income homeowners,” the Treasury program states. Who gets the money? The equity umbrella covers those who are black, Latino, Indigenous and Native American persons, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and other persons of color, according to the agency. Members of religious minorities, “LGBTQ+ persons,” and individuals with disabilities may also apply. 

WILL notes that the federal DEI-based programs it has tracked do not include the inward-facing DEI policies previously identified by organizations, such as Do No Harm’s review of more than 500 DEI policies or the Heritage Foundation’s report on the State Department’s $77 million in DEI spending. 

“While those inward-facing policies are pernicious and ought to be disbanded, the following outward-facing programs, policies, and regulations affect millions of Americans every year,” WILL’s Roadmap states. “The Trump Administration should target these programs, policies, and regulations, and then terminate the programs, settle the lawsuits, and investigate pending complaints of race discrimination.” 

‘Whipsaw of Executive Action’

But executive orders alone won’t do it. That’s why House bills like the FAIR Act and the Ending Racism in Government Contracting Act, introduced by Reps. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) and Anna Paulina Luna (Fla.), are critical in ending 50 years of increasing quotas and the DEI agenda in federal contracting, proponents of the legislation say. 

“You live by the executive order, you die by the executive order,” said WILL deputy counsel Dan Lennington in an interview with The Federalist.  

For those who have understandably repressed the last four terrible years in this country, President Joe Biden created havoc upon taking office by rapidly revoking myriad executive orders from Trump’s first term. Some of those involved prohibitions on the kind of identity politics-driven mandates pushed by Trump’s predecessors.  

“From a conservative standpoint, this restores the regular constitutional order, the idea under the Constitution that congress should be passing laws and the president signing them instead of the whipsaw of executive action” that can be undone by the next administration, Lennington said. “Otherwise, all these laws will lay there dormant only to spring into action for the next Democrat.” 

Trump wants the Republican-controlled Congress to pass a “big, beautiful” bill to deliver on his ambitious agenda to reform and limit government, extend his first term tax cuts, create energy incentives and provide funding to bring back and secure the U.S. border. Others are counseling separate, smaller bills, all under reconciliation to get around the 60-vote mandate in the Senate. RINOs, per usual, are getting itchy about hundreds of billions of dollars in spending cuts proposed. 

However it happens, Republicans have a narrow window in which to work. If toxic DEI is going to stay dead in the federal government, advocates for long-term change say the time to act is now. 

“It’s time to ensure fairness, reduce wasteful spending, and uphold the principles of equality and colorblindness,” Rep. Glenn Grothman, author of the Ending Racism in Government Contracting Act, said in a press release. “Our bill will stop the replacement of constitutional equality with a race-based redistribution system overseen by bureaucratic ‘diversity and inclusion’ officials.”

Matt Kittle is a senior elections correspondent for The Federalist. An award-winning investigative reporter and 30-year veteran of print, broadcast, and online journalism, Kittle previously served as the executive director of Empower Wisconsin.