President Trump signed a full Executive Order abolishing racist, anti-white critical race theory from the federal government, the military, and all federal contractors.
Sep 22, 2020
The president explains that our nation was founded on the ideal that “all men are created equal” and denounces critical race theory’s “pernicious and false belief that America is an irredeemably racist and sexist country.”
The President writes that the “malign ideology” of critical race theory “is now migrating from the fringes of American society and threatens to infect core institutions of country.” He cites my original reporting on the Treasury Department, Argonne National Labs, and Sandia Labs.
The President will prohibit federal funds from supporting critical race theory trainings in the federal government, in the military, and by all federal contractors.
The point on federal contractors is a major escalation: if a private company wants to work with the US government, they can no longer teach critical race theory anywhere in their offices. This could potentially disrupt CRT programs in half of the Fortune 500.
The executive order will also disrupt the flow of money to academia’s critical race theory programs. The order stops all federal grants that support CRT—with the potential to cripple hundreds of academic projects moving forward.
Finally, the executive order has a strong enforcement component: all federal diversity programs must be approved directly by OMB and OPM, and agencies are directed to initiate adverse action proceedings against managers who continue to hold CRT trainings.
The executive order also opens the legal floodgates: the President instructs the Attorney General to assess whether critical race theory trainings create a “hostile work environment” and constitute a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
