Trump's 'DEI purge' is already having a massive impact

President Donald Trump's diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) purge is already having a big effect.

This is according to a new report from Fox News.

Trump targeted DEI programs almost immediately upon entering the White House with executive orders.

These orders, apparently, are already having an impact.

Background

One of the first executive orders that Trump signed was one "ending radical and wasteful government DEI programs and preferencing."

Among other things, the order looks to:

. . . terminate, to the maximum extent allowed by law, all DEI, DEIA, and “environmental justice” offices and positions (including but not limited to “Chief Diversity Officer” positions); all “equity action plans,” “equity” actions, initiatives, or programs, “equity-related” grants or contracts; and all DEI or DEIA performance requirements for employees, contractors, or grantees.

This, of course, is a massive departure from what we saw under the Biden administration, which fully supported DEI programs.

Now, Fox reports that this has gained the federal government about $420 million. The money comes from canceled DEI and DEI-related contracts.

Per the outlet:

President Donald Trump’s executive order terminating all federal diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs has already sidelined 395 government bureaucrats, a senior administration official told Fox News Digital. Trump’s newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed up by Elon Musk, wrote on X Friday that approximately $420 million in current/impending contracts, mainly focused on DEI initiatives, had also been canceled.

Big changes

Fox's report explains how the Trump administration went about notifying " heads of agencies and departments that they must begin taking steps to close all DEI offices," including by placing "government workers in those offices on paid leave."

It is unclear how the situation is going to play out from here. There is no doubt that Trump and his administration would like to simply terminate these employees all together - rather than give them paid leave. But, it is not always so easy to do so.

In addition to the executive order mentioned above, Fox reports that Trump signed "an executive order to end discrimination in the workplace and higher education through race and sex-based preferences under the guise of DEI and a memo to eliminate a Biden administration policy that prioritized DEI hiring at the Federal Aviation Administration."

As for what is wrong with all of this DEI stuff, perhaps U.S. Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) put it best.

He wrote:

The best way to stop discriminating against people on the basis of race or gender is to stop discriminating against people on the basis of race or gender. Let DEI die.