Overview

• The guidance affirms that federal antidiscrimination laws apply to all DEI-labeled initiatives and bars any consideration of race, color, national origin, sex or other protected traits
• It specifically prohibits proxies such as “cultural competence,” “lived experience” or geographic targeting designed to boost participation by particular racial or sex-based groups
• Entities that fail to eliminate discriminatory DEI measures face the prospect of revoked federal grants under the new memo’s enforcement framework
• The memo represents the latest escalation in President Trump’s campaign since January to dismantle DEI roles and policies within federal agencies and among contract recipients
• Civil rights organizations have already signaled plans for immediate legal challenges, warning that universities, nonprofits and private firms could be forced to drop ethnic studies, targeted scholarships and health disparity programs