3 Things To Know: Early presidential actions by the MAGA Administration eliminated diversity mandates, imposed a hiring freeze, and targeted cost-of-living relief.
WASHINGTON — The president signed executive orders reshaping federal workforce policies and signaling a sharp break from diversity and equity initiatives. These actions mark a significant cultural shift in the early days of the MAGA administration.
The most vague of the president’s Inauguration Day executive orders involved inflation and the cost-of-living crisis, a primary driving factor in the election.
1) Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Programs Eliminated
Action: Revoked Executive Order 11246 (originally signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965) that prohibited discrimination in federal contracting and promoted affirmative action, as well as several decades of other presidential orders involving discrimination protections.
Impact:
- Removed any federal contracting requirements to consider diversity or equity in hiring.
- Directed federal contractors to avoid workforce balancing based on race, gender, or other characteristics protected by law.
- Directed all executive agencies and departments to end "discriminatory and illegal" preferences, policies, programs, guidance, and other provisions.
- Directed all executive departments to "combat illegal private-sector DEI preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities."
Rationale: The MAGA agenda focuses on speed, efficiency, and cost reduction. The executive order claims the new policies will be “colorblind” and “merit-based.”
Other Steps:
- Ordered federal agency DEI personnel to be placed on administrative leave with plans for layoffs.
- Directed the Federal Aviation Administration to stop diversity-based hiring practices, claiming safety concerns.
- Offices and jobs dedicated to environmental justice were targeted for elimination to reduce regulatory costs.
2) Federal Workforce Management
Remote Work: Mandated federal employees return to full-time in-office work, with limited exceptions.
Hiring Freeze: Instituted a federal hiring freeze, exempting military, national security, immigration enforcement, and public safety roles.
Employment Protections:
- Reinstated previous Trump-era policies that reduce employment protections for federal workers.
- Ordered new performance plans for senior executives to align with MAGA priorities.
3) Cost-Of-Living Crisis
Action: Issued a vague directive for “emergency price relief” to address rising prices.
Impact: “I hereby order the heads of all executive departments and agencies to deliver emergency price relief, consistent with applicable law, to the American people and increase the prosperity of the American worker. This shall include pursuing appropriate actions to: lower the cost of housing and expand housing supply; eliminate unnecessary administrative expenses and rent-seeking practices that increase healthcare costs; eliminate counterproductive requirements that raise the costs of home appliances; create employment opportunities for American workers, including drawing discouraged workers into the labor force; and eliminate harmful, coercive ‘climate’ policies that increase the costs of food and fuel.”
Monitoring: The Assistant to the President for Economic Policy must provide a progress report within 30 days and update it monthly.
