As anticipated, within hours of being inaugurated President, Donald Trump issued sweeping executive orders to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs across federal agencies and implement major changes to the federal workforce, mandating a full return to in-office work and weakening job protections for civil servants.
The orders mark a significant policy pivot from the Biden administration and aim to reshape the federal bureaucracy.
The first order directs federal agencies to dismantle DEI programs, environmental justice initiatives, and related positions, including Chief Diversity Officer roles, while prohibiting DEI considerations in employee evaluations, contracts, and grants.
Americans deserve a government committed “to expending precious taxpayer resources only on making America great”, said the order.
Sixty day countdown
Agencies must now provide detailed reports on DEI-related activities, expenditures, and positions within sixty days and identify any attempts to rebrand DEI initiatives to avoid scrutiny. Those efforts will be overseen by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), with monthly White House meetings tracking compliance.
The administration claims DEI programs have fostered inefficiency, discrimination, and wasteful spending, emphasizing a return to merit-based practices. Critics, however, argue that dismantling these initiatives will undermine efforts to address systemic inequities in federal operations.
In addition, Trump has ordered federal employees to return to the office five days a week, reversing remote work policies widely adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic. The directive, which allows limited exemptions, has drawn immediate pushback from federal employee unions, including the National Treasury Employees Union, which filed a lawsuit to block the order.
The return-to-office mandate is coupled with the reinstatement of the controversial “Schedule F” policy, which strips civil service protections from mid-level federal employees, making them easier to dismiss. It aims to replace long-serving government officials with those loyal to the president’s agenda but is likely to face significant legal challenges.
Federal hiring freeze
Trump also announced a hiring freeze and established the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), chaired by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, to streamline federal operations and explore the elimination of some agencies. Musk has endorsed the return-to-office policy, predicting it will lead to voluntary resignations and enable the administration to downsize the federal workforce.
Critics warn the EOs could destabilize federal agencies and hinder public service delivery.
“Restricting hybrid work arrangements will make it harder for federal agencies to compete for top talent,” said the American Federation of Government Employees. Nicholas Bloom, an economist at Stanford University, cautioned that forcing employees back to the office and stripping job protections would lead to resignations, lower workforce quality, and potential failures in core government services.
Ideological purge
While the Trump administration frames the changes as efforts to enhance accountability and efficiency, opponents see them as an ideological purge of federal institutions.
Legal battles loom, and the full impact of these policies on government operations and employee morale remains uncertain.
For HR departments, it means managing a significant level of change and turbulence which will need to be carefully managed, communicated and administrated.