The Concept
Executive Orders & related federal actions
“Civil Rights and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” by Foley Hoag
“DEI was a focus for both the second [T] administration and private litigants in 2025. Immediately after taking office, President [T] issued two executive orders targeting DEI, including one specifically addressing higher education institutions…. A few months later… President [T] issued an executive order focused on higher education accreditors’ use and application of DEI-related standards.”
Key Resources
Foley Hoag: Higher Education Litigation and Federal Policy: 2025 Year in Review (January 05, 2026)
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights: “Trump’s Executive Orders on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Explained”
More Detail
“What do the EOs do?”
“Among other things, the EOs direct the Trump administration agencies and staff to:
Terminate diversity, equity, and inclusion offices, positions, and programs in the federal government.
Terminate equity-related grants and contracts.”
“What don’t the EOs do?”
“Equal opportunity and antidiscrimination obligations are enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and our federal civil rights laws. The EOs do not and cannot change that…”
“Civil Rights and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” by Foley Hoag
“The Department of Education took several steps to effectuate these orders. First, its Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) issued a Dear Colleague Letter and a Frequently Asked Questions memorandum warning educational institutions of potential liability under Title VI and the Equal Protection Clause for race-conscious programs and policies. Then, in April, the Department published certification language requiring all state and local education agencies to certify their compliance with Title VI and [the Supreme Court affirmative action decisions] or risk losing funding and facing liability under contract law and the False Claims Act…”
“Taking its cue from the Department of Education, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) soon after published a memorandum announcing the launch of its Civil Rights Fraud Initiative and directing DOJ lawyers to use the FCA against federal fund recipients that violate civil rights laws. The memorandum specifically focused on colleges and universities... On July 29, 2025, [the] Attorney General… followed up with another memorandum… explaining how the administration planned to apply federal antidiscrimination laws to DEI programs.”
“Admissions and Hiring”
“The Supreme Court held race-conscious admissions policies unlawful… over two years ago. Despite sweeping changes to admissions practices, and widespread reporting that overall student body diversity decreased in the admitted classes that immediately followed the decision, admissions practices—even those blessed by the Court in its decision—remain under close scrutiny.”
“On August 7, 2025, President [T] issued an Executive Order titled “Ensuring Transparency in Higher Education Admissions,” directing the Secretary of Education to establish additional reporting requirements for higher education institutions related to their admissions programs… Shortly after the executive order was issued… the Secretary of Education issued a memorandum announcing that the Department will begin “collect[ing] data disaggregated by race and sex relating to the applicant pool, admitted cohort, and enrolled cohort at the undergraduate level, and for specific graduate and professional programs.”
“Other Litigation Testing the Boundaries of DEI and Anti-DEI Policies”
“Before 2025, organizations were filing lawsuits to challenge a variety of other race-conscious policies and practices beyond admissions. This trend continued in 2025. One organization in particular, EPP, has filed over 60 legal actions against universities based on allegedly race- and sex-based programs.”
“Courts are grappling with these challenges to race-conscious programs and policies. They have thus far declined to find general DEI programming to be unlawful…”
“Title IX”
“Among President Trump’s first executive orders was Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports (the “Women’s Sports Order”), which interpreted Title IX to exclude transgender girls and women from sports and threatened to pull federal funds from schools allowing transgender athletes to play on girls’ and women’s sports teams…
Cases challenging these reduced protections for transgender, nonbinary, and intersex individuals from discrimination in athletics are currently before the Supreme Court…
“Immigration”
“[W]ithin hours of his inauguration, President Trump signed an Executive Order directing agencies to enforce deportation orders, revoking Biden-era guidelines, and granting considerable discretion to the Secretary of Homeland Security to implement immigration law enforcement.
A day after the Executive Order was published, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”)... issued a directive rescinding the Biden Administration’s guidelines… that provided additional protection for schools and universities. Since then, universities and colleges have seen international students targeted for visa revocations or deportation—many of whom were directly targeted for engaging in pro-Palestinian protests and otherwise protected political speech.”
Further Reading
From the Source
Foley Hoag: Higher Education Litigation and Federal Policy: 2025 Year in Review (January 05, 2026)
From the Source
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights: “Trump’s Executive Orders on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Explained”
New DOJ Guidance Identifies Unlawful DEI Practices That Could Result in Revocation of Federal Funding from Ogletree Deakins
"On July 29, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released new guidance to all federal agencies clarifying what types of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices and policies would be considered illegal discrimination by federal funding recipients, including federal contractors [...] The DOJ's guidance focuses on four primary areas of unlawful discriminatory policies and practices: (1) granting preferential treatment based on protected characteristics, (2) prohibited use of proxies for protected characteristics, (3) segregation based on protected characteristics, and (4) training programs that promote discrimination or hostile work environments."
OMB Extends Deadlines on Race/Ethnicity Data Overhaul from Ogletree Deakins
"On September 26, 2025, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) extended two timelines under Statistical Policy Directive No. 15 (SPD 15): Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity. In 2024, OMB issued updates to the race and ethnicity categories that are used for data collection across the federal government. [Those updates remain in effect, but] OMB [...] extended the deadline to update federal information collections of race and ethnicity data to be consistent with the new standards."
