President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order to eliminate a Biden administration diversity initiative at the State Department that removed barriers to employment for underrepresented groups.
The order directed the State Department to remove the "Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility" Core Precept from Foreign Service tenure and promotion criteria, The Hill reported. The order further directed the government not to base foreign service recruitment, hiring, promotion, or retention decisions on an individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
"Relevant agencies shall identify and take appropriate action regarding any Foreign Service Officer who knowingly and willfully engaged in illegal discrimination," the order read, according to The Hill.
On Inauguration Day, Trump signed an executive order to end "radical and wasteful government" diversity, equity, and inclusion "programs and preferencing."
On Jan. 21, another executive order called on all federal departments and agencies to end "discriminatory and illegal preferences, mandates, policies, programs, activities, guidance, regulations, enforcement actions, consent orders, and requirements." It also ordered agencies to enforce "our longstanding civil-rights laws and to combat illegal private-sector DEI preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities."
The Biden administration created the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, which reported to Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The office was charged with increasing representation among underrepresented groups, according to The Hill. Among the office's initiatives was creating a Demographic Baseline Report.
"The data allows the Department to assess whether its workforce reflects the rich diversity of our nation," the State Department said at the time, according to The Hill. "The data is also used to examine if there are potential anomalies that may be indicative of a barrier to equal employment opportunity."
Newsmax reached out to the White House for comment.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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