Eliminating Internal Discriminatory Practices

On February 5, 2025, Attorney General Pam Bondi issued this memorandum to all Department of Justice (DOJ) employees, one of fourteen memoranda issued on her first day. The memorandum directed each Department component, by March 15, 2025, to submit a report confirming the termination — "to the maximum extent allowed by law" — of all DEI, DEIA, and "environmental justice" programs, offices, and positions, including "Chief Diversity Officer" or similar positions; equity action plans; equity-related grants or contracts; and DEI or DEIA performance requirements for employees, contractors, suppliers, vendors, or grantees. Components were further required to identify federal contractors, suppliers, vendors, and grantees that had provided DEI training or DEI training materials since January 20, 2021; to identify federal grantees that had received funding to provide or advance DEI, DEIA, or environmental justice programs since the same date; and to assess whether existing positions or programs had been "misleadingly relabeled in an attempt to preserve their pre-November 4, 2024, function." The memorandum rescinded all Department materials that "encouraged or permitted race- or sex-based preferences as a method of compliance with federal civil rights laws," directed forthcoming guidance to narrow the use of "disparate impact" theories, and required references to DEI and DEIA to be removed from training programs, policies and guidelines, vendor contracts, and budget materials.