AG Rob Bonta Issues Statement Denouncing Trump’s Dismantling DEI Programs, Initiatives

Attorney General Rob Bonta, along with the Attorneys General of 12 other states, issued a joint statement on Friday, denouncing President Donald Trump’s recent Executive Orders diminishing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and efforts in the federal government.

Since being inaugurated on January 20th, President Donald Trump has undone most of former President Joe Biden’s DEI efforts. The most major one Trump ended his first day in office – Executive Order 13985. That order made every Federal agency and entity submit “Equity Action Plans”, which guided federal agencies in advancing DEI programs and supporting “underserved communities”. Plans and updates were submitted often depending on the department and agency. However, upon Trump’s inauguration, it was all undone.

“Pursuant to Executive Order 13985 and follow-on orders, nearly every Federal agency and entity submitted “Equity Action Plans” to detail the ways that they have furthered DEIs infiltration of the Federal Government,” read Trump’s Executive Order ending federal government DEI programs.  “The public release of these plans demonstrated immense public waste and shameful discrimination.  That ends today.  Americans deserve a government committed to serving every person with equal dignity and respect, and to expending precious taxpayer resources only on making America great.”

Results were swift, with many DEI programs ending shortly after the signing, while others needed time to dismantle, with a March 20th deadline being named in the order. Other executive orders in the following days further eroded DEI programs, with orders doing everything from ending DEI programs at military academies and the military to ending DEI from being used in federal hiring, promotions, and performance reviews.

“President Trump campaigned on ending the scourge of DEI from our federal government and returning America to a merit based society where people are hired based on their skills, not for the color of their skin,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt last week. “This is another win for Americans of all races, religions, and creeds. Promises made, promises kept.”

However, DEI ending executive orders proved to be polarizing. While many said the end of DEI will lead to colorblind policies that will help hire and promote the best workers based solely on merit and help end discrimination, opponents have charged that the end of DEI programs will only worsen working in the federal government and only increase discrimination. They particularly noted the end of employee resource groups (ERGs), which were affinity groups within agencies that employees voluntarily joined to foster “growth and understanding”.

Bonta’s statement

On Friday, Bonta and the Attorneys General of Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington denounced Trump’s efforts to end DEI programs at the federal level in a joint statement.

“President Trump’s executive orders are unnecessary and disingenuous,” read the statement. “These orders have nothing to do with combatting discrimination. The Trump administration has longstanding civil rights laws at its disposal to combat real discrimination, and we would be willing partners if it chose to pursue this path. Instead, the administration is targeting lawful policies and programs that are beneficial to all Americans. These policies and programs are not only consistent with state and federal anti-discrimination laws, they foster environments where everyone has an opportunity to succeed. That is the opposite of discrimination.

“President Trump’s attack on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility initiatives undermines a simple and unassailable goal: to create fairer workplaces and opportunities for all to succeed. His baseless and offensive claims that these initiatives somehow contributed to the tragic plane crash this week are an insult to those who are grieving and the individuals serving in the military and air traffic control.

“As the chief law enforcement officers for our respective states, we are committed to enforcing federal and state civil rights laws to protect the rights of all our people against discriminatory practices. We condemn discrimination in any form, and we stand in strong opposition to the President’s recent orders and the misleading narrative he has pushed to justify them.”

However, the number of proponents of ending DEI is growing. A growing number of companies have been ending DEI programs, with many ending them before Trump was sworn in. In addition, more and more Americans are  calling DEI programs detrimental, with ending DEI programs being a top issue for voters this year. For many, the end of DEI programs are the way to create fairer workplaces.

“This statement from Bonta ad the AGs smacks of desperation, because they can do nothing about DEI programs ending like this,” explained legal advisor Carlo Matthews, who assists with cases involving diversity programs, to the Globe on Friday. “They’re saying that ending DEI programs will lead to more discrimination and that everyone won’t have the opportunity to succeed. The message also came out the day after Trump partially blamed DEI programs for contributing to the weakening of the FAA, which led to the mid-air collision in Washington a few days ago.

“It was a bit speculatory, but what Trump was getting at was the DEI programs were not fully merit based. They didn’t pick people based fully on experience and their background but on race. By fostering inclusion, they excluded many. And we’re only going to see DEI go away more and more from now. I mean, he hasn’t been in office two weeks, and he already dismantled a what of what Biden had done. We’re going to see some definite changes coming.”