WASHINGTON — The U.S. Justice Department issued a memo on Wednesday that asked recipients of federal funds to ban diversity, equity and inclusion programs, which President Donald Trump has aimed to dismantle since taking office in January.
Trump has passed executive orders aimed at restricting DEI but Wednesday’s memo laid out specific examples of actions that it said federal fund recipients should restrict — such as some training sessions and policies aimed at protected groups. It also said federal funds should not be used to support third parties that engage in DEI.
Recipients of federal funds range from schools, colleges and universities to nonprofit organizations and private firms that are government contractors. The memo was released publicly by the Justice Department.
In an example to support one of its recommendations, the memo said that “a scholarship program must not target ‘underserved geographic areas’ or ‘first-generation students’ if the criteria are chosen to increase participation by specific racial or sex-based groups.”
It added: “Instead, use universally applicable criteria, such as academic merit or financial hardship, applied without regard to protected characteristics or demographic goals.”
In another recommendation, it said a program targeting low-income students “must be applied uniformly without targeting areas or populations to achieve racial or sex-based outcomes.”
Federal law already bars discrimination on grounds of race, gender and ethnicity.The Trump administration has eliminated DEI-related programs in the government and fired many people who worked in those initiatives. It has faced some legal pushback. Several private firms have rolled back such initiatives in recent months.
DEI programs have been part of workplace diversity efforts to ensure fairer representation for groups seen as historically marginalized, such as African Americans and other ethnic minorities in the United States, LGBTQ+ community members, women, and people with disabilities.
Civil rights advocates say DEI helps address the continued effects of historical and generational inequity and aims to remove systemic barriers for groups affected by a legacy of racism, sexism and xenophobia.
Trump and his allies say DEI unfairly discriminates against other Americans, including white people and men, and weakens the importance of merit in job hiring or promotion. DEI practices include training on how to combat discrimination, addressing pay inequity along gender or racial lines and broadening recruitment and access for underrepresented ethnic groups.
The Trump administration has threatened to cut federal funds given to institutions over a range of issues like pro-Palestinian protests against U.S. ally Israel’s war in Gaza, climate initiatives, transgender policies and DEI programs.
