As lawmakers borrow pages from the Trump administration’s anti-DEI playbook, a wave of laws targeting diversity, equity and inclusion is lying through the Republican-led statehouse.
Large US companies adopt or waive diversity pledge
From Walmart to the Metaplatform, some of the largest companies in the United States have rolled back diversity, equity and inclusive programs known as DEI.
When he took office in January, West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrissey issued an executive order excluding diversity, equity and inclusion in the state government. Last week he signed a bill ordering his state law.
“I have committed to eradicating Day,” Morrissey said in signing the ritual bill. “Now we can report to you that we are following with that promise. That’s a great reason to be here today. Day is dead in the mountain state.”
With President Donald Trump leading the charges, diversity initiatives emerged as a new facet of the country’s culture war. Republican-led states are currently taking part in the fight.
Most anti-DEI bills target higher education, but 25 states, from Louisiana to South Carolina, are considering 101 measures to limit DEI, according to Bill Kramer, vice president and lawyer for state and local government affiliates.
In response, the Blue State is rolling out a bill defending the DEI.
“I believe state lawmakers are encouraged by their actions at the federal level,” said Kramer, who tracks the laws of hundreds of clients.
So far, nine states have enacted anti-DEI laws, and nine more have passed at least one chamber. Just this week, Iowa sent Gov. Kim Reynolds a law banning DEI activities and offices for her signature.
The purpose of the state’s law reflects the president’s agenda, squeezing Dei across the public sector and increasing pressure on the private sector.
In April, Republican Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a bill banning local government DEI offices, officers, policies or practices.
“Governor Sanders was proud to sign this law because the government should focus on serving people and saving taxpayers’ dollars without wasting time and money with awakened nonsense.”
Last week, Republican Indiana Gov. Mike Brown signed an “illegal discrimination” bill that prohibits public agencies from taking action based on individual identity, such as race or religion. Brown signed an executive order in January banning the state government’s DEI initiative.
Opposing repulsion invoice
Over the years, diversity initiatives have emerged in the Red State, either as “DEI” or as “critical racial theory.”
In 2022, these terms first appeared in bills introduced in 12 states, according to a USA Today analysis of data compiled by bill tracking companies plural.
Dozens of bills targeting universities and state governments, drafted by anti-DEI think tanks and foundations, are part of a broader backlash against the DEI initiative to rectify historical patterns of discrimination and exclusion in the workplace following George Floyd’s 2020 murder.
Critics like Russell Vought and Stephen Miller (now Trump officials) have attacked diversity targets and other DEI strategies as illegal discrimination that prioritizes race and gender over individual merit.
Trump seized the Wedge during the 2024 presidential election and vowed to defeat “anti-white” racism.
Just hours after taking the oath of office on January 20th, Trump issued an executive order to dismantle the DEI program.
Wade Miller, senior adviser to Center Renewst America, praised the states lined up to help Trump.
“We welcome all bills aimed at dismantling the DEI,” Miller said of Vought, a conservative think tank founded in January 2021.
The momentum for these bills in the Red State is unlikely to slow down, according to Republican poll Whit Ayers.
“The top four reasons people voted for Trump were to beat inflation, juice the economy, stop illegal immigration, and escape awakened culture,” said Ayers, president of North Star Opinion Research.
Democrats defend the merits of Day
Democrats warn that a new wave of anti-DEI laws could be wiped out by local and state government workers and the communities they serve.
“The best way to make sure governments work for everyone is to have people who only a few people work in government who understand the experiences of the people they serve and have excellent skills at their jobs,” said Eliza Leighton, advocating Day as executive director of America’s Dream, part of the Pride Rise Network. “DEI’s work at the state level ensures those things.”
In Indiana, Senate Democrats have denounced the new anti-DEI law as a “setback” for diverse communities across the state facing discrimination.
“When we introduce laws that advocate that everyone is treated equally, I love it. I haven’t seen anyone on this planet who said we shouldn’t treat equally,” said Sen. Fadi Kadura, a Democrat. “But what this law ignores is that people have different starting points in their lives.”
Last week, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed the law to the “Demolition of the DEI Division,” which bans the Tennessee government’s DEI offices and departments.
Additionally, the Governor’s desk has the “dei Act demolition.” If signed, it bans state and local governments, public universities and school systems and takes into account racial, gender, or other demographic characteristics in employment decisions.
Last month, on the House floor, Jack Johnson, a Republican and Senate majority leader, sponsoring both bills, said Tennessee was in line with the Trump administration’s priorities. House sponsor Rep. Aron Mabury said diversity “occurs naturally through fair employment practices.”
Day doesn’t give unfair benefits due to gender or skin color, but ensuring that qualified candidates are not denied equal access to opportunities for their own identity, Tennessee Senators’ minority leader Raumesh Akbari replied.
“Unfortunately, it’s a shame that diversity, equity and inclusion have become this ugly political tool to divide people,” Akbari said on the floor of her home in April. “The principle of diversity, equity and inclusiveness is to ensure that people who are different but equally qualified will acquire a fair shaking.”
Tennessee “deserves a government that reflects the people it serves, but it does not set back the clock of progress,” she told USA Today.
In a state where 17% of the population is black, Akbari and Senator London Lamar are another Democrat who opposed the “Day Day Act” on the House floor, two of the three Black Americans in the Tennessee Senate.
“As a black woman, a state senator and a lifelong advocate for equity, I am deeply disturbed by the ongoing attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion in the Tennessee Legislature,” Lamar told USA Today in a statement. “These efforts are not about equity or accountability, but rather to silence progress and drive marginalized voices out of the spaces we have been struggling with.”
Expressing his opposition to the March “Demolition of the DEI Division Act,” Democrat Larry Miller, a retired firefighter and longest serving member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, spoke in personal terms.
“I’m a product of Day. If I wasn’t, I might not be sitting here today. And what your bill says (we want to dismantle that history and abolish it. My history, my personal history,” Miller said. “Day helped build this country.”
Blue States Mount Pro DEI Resistance
In blue states, the parent-DEI laws are also on the rise. Of the 426 Day Bills tracked by American Pride, it has risen so far in 2025, with 221 supporting Dei and 205 against it.
In April, Democrat Arizona Gov. Katy Hobbs rejected the bill from a Republican-controlled Congress that would ban DEI employment practices in state and local governments.
“The state does not mandate the composition of the workforce and already has a merit-centric employment system to recruit the best possible talent into the public service class,” she wrote in a letter to the state Senate rejecting the bill.
This week, Hobbs rejected a second bill that wiped out DEI’s offices and activities at state institutions, universities, universities and local governments.
Is part of the law DEI or anti-DEI? Sometimes it depends on who you ask.
The Michigan House bill requires state agencies to hire employees based on objective factors such as relevant work experience and education, sponsored by DEI Democrats, but appeared to have been first created and introduced by Republicans in previous semesters.
The term “dei” is not featured in the bill that promotes merit-based employment, but House Republicans said the law would eliminate it.
“Merit-based hiring and promotions are easy. You do a good job and you will be rewarded. Why are the other metric issues a mystery,” said GOP MP Joseph Pavlov. “There is no place for DEI in the government.”
According to Pavlov’s Legislative Services Director Benjamin Reese, the Legislative Services Office made a paper error and gave the bill to Democrat Erin Burns, which later hosted it, receiving “overwhelming Democrat co-sponsorship.”
“The representatives hope that his Democratic colleagues will see Day not helping those who are seeking support,” Reese said.
Burns told USA Today that the bill gave the opportunity to flip the script. Reducing the impact of personal connections in the employment process creates a more level playing field for all workers, she said.
Her bill sailed unanimously through the Michigan House of Representatives. Only one person opposed it.
“Michigan Republicans voted yes for the Day bill, and I love it for them,” Burns told USA Today. “House Democrats know that merit-based employment and diversity, equity and inclusive practices are not mutually exclusive, and that’s the false narrative of Republicans pushing for years.
Contributed by Jayme Fraser
