President Donald Trump is dismantling his predecessor’s policies prioritizing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) hiring at the Federal Aviation Administration.
He says the order prioritizes ‘safety and efficiency’ within the agency responsible for U.S. air travel, rather than focusing on practices that promote hiring based on diversifying the workforce.
This executive order is a continuation of Trump’s purge of government workers hired under what he claims are ‘discriminatory’ practices.
On Tuesday, heads of all government agencies received a letter directing them to terminate all DEI hires by 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Thousands are now preparing to leave their jobs at the end of the day and not return on Thursday.
‘We will forge a society that is colorblind and merit-based,’ Trump said in his inaugural address in the Capitol Rotunda on Monday.
The president signed an anti-DEI executive order on Monday in front of a cheering crowd at his inauguration parade just hours after his swearing-in.
The order also directs all DEI offices within federal agencies to be shuttered.
Now, the Secretary of Transportation and under it the FAA Administrator must purge their agency of those hired under Biden’s DEI hiring policy.
Donald Trump is purging the federal government of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) hires and practices, claiming they are ‘discriminatory’ in nature and many times prevent the best person from getting the job
Trump released a memo Wednesday ordering the Federal Aviation Administration end DEI practices in exchange for policies prioritizing hiring on the basis of ‘safety and efficiency’ for airlines customers
‘Safety and competence should be the only job criteria for FAA employees, yet the Biden Administration violated the public trust—as well as the law—by prioritizing illegal DEI hiring,’ reads a memo on Trump’s executive order.
He directs the FAA to ‘return to non-discriminatory, merit-based hiring,’ claiming that Biden’s policy was ‘dangerous’ for the millions of Americans who use airline travel every day.
Trump alleges that individuals were hired with deficiencies just because they fit the DEI mold – whether it be race, disabilities, gender identity or other qualities that could be classified as promoting ‘diversity.’
‘Almost unbelievably, as a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiative, the Biden FAA specifically recruited and hired individuals with ‘severe intellectual’ disabilities, psychiatric issues, and complete paralysis over other individuals who sought to work for the FAA,’ the memo notes.
It adds that all FAA hiring must ‘be based solely on ensuring the safety of airline passengers and overall job excellence.’
‘Flight should be supervised by the best employees,’ Trump’s order insists.
Trump’s sweeping executive order focused on purging the federal government of DEI hires and policies orders agencies to ‘take prompt actions’ against all departments ‘focusing exclusively on DEI initiatives and programs.’
The letter also demands all public DEI focused web pages be taken offline, and orders employees within the departments to report ‘any efforts to disguise these programs by using coded or imprecise language.’
Any employees that are aware of ‘coded or imprecise language’ intended to keep DEI programs alive but do not report them within 10 days are warned of ‘adverse consequences,’ the letter notes.
The order titled ‘Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing and Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions’ directly reverses a DEI executive order enacted by President Biden on his first day in office four years ago.
Trump took a few hundred executive actions the first two days of his second White House term
