Trump Orders Federal Aviation Administration to Rescind DEI Hiring Practices

President Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House, on January 20, 2025. Jim WATSON/AFP via Getty Images

President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Jan. 21 directing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to immediately cease hiring workers based on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and focus instead on individual capability.

The order is among dozens the commander-in-chief signed into law this week after returning to the White House for a second term, including one aimed at eliminating DEI-focused policies and programs within the federal government.

“I hereby order the Secretary of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administrator to immediately return to non-discriminatory, merit-based hiring, as required by law,” Trump’s order stated.

“All so-called DEI initiatives, including all dangerous preferencing policies or practices, shall immediately be rescinded in favor of hiring, promoting, and otherwise treating employees on the basis of individual capability, competence, achievement, and dedication.”

Trump’s order directs the secretary of transportation and the federal aviation administrator to review the past performance and performance standards of all individuals in critical safety positions at the agency.

The secretary and administrator must then take appropriate actions to ensure that any individuals who are unable to demonstrate “requisite capability” are replaced by a “high-capability individual” that will ensure air safety and efficiency, according to the order.

The FAA, which operates within the U.S. Department of Transportation, oversees safety for more than 45,000 flights and 2.9 million airline passengers every day, according to Trump’s directive.

“These Americans trust the FAA’s public servants with their lives, and it is therefore imperative that they maintain a commitment to excellence and efficiency,” Trump stated in the executive order.

Trump’s order criticizes the FAA under the former administration for having “betrayed its mission by elevating dangerous discrimination over excellence.”

It states that before Jan. 20, the day Trump was inaugurated, the FAA Diversity and Inclusion website “revealed that the prior administration sought to specifically recruit and hire individuals with serious infirmities that could impact the execution of their essential life-saving duties.”

Trump’s order calls DEI policies “illegal and discriminatory” and states that hiring based on race, sex, disability, or any other criteria as opposed to the safety of airline passengers, competency, and qualification only harms Americans.

Hiring FAA employees based on DEI policies penalizes hard-working Americans who want to work for the government agency but are unable to do so because they “lack a requisite disability or skin color,” Trump’s order says.

The president’s order adds that FAA employees “must hold the qualifications and have the ability to perform their jobs to the highest possible standard of excellence.”

‘Radical and Wasteful’ DEI programs

Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 21 aimed at ending what he described as “radical and wasteful” DEI programs in federal agencies and ordered DEI offices and programs be shut down.

A memo issued by the Office of Personnel Management shortly after states that all government DEI employees must be placed on paid leave by 5 p.m. on Jan. 22.

The memo from the OPM, an independent agency of the federal government that manages the federal civil service, further states that federal agencies must cancel all DEI-related training programs and terminate any contractors involved in the initiatives.

It also directs federal agencies to remove all websites and social media accounts associated with DEI initiatives by the same deadline.

DEI initiatives have long been a decisive subject across the United States, with the previous administration promoting such programs throughout the federal government, workplaces, and schools as part of efforts to address what it said are longstanding inequities and structural racism.

Civil rights advocates have also supported such programs, though many states—including Florida, Texas, and Utah—have challenged and ultimately banned them from going into effect.

It is not clear how many employees will be affected by the latest executive order.

The Epoch Times has contacted the White House for comment.

Aldgra Fredly contributed to this report.