President Trump signed an executive order Monday ending diversity programs in the nation's military.
The directive was among a series of executive orders the White House released Monday night that sought to reshape the country's armed forces. Trump also signed executive orders tasking Pentagon officials with reviewing its policy on transgender troops and reinstating many service members who were dismissed for refusing the coronavirus vaccine.
A fourth executive order released Monday announced plans to build a missile defense system likened to Israel's "Iron Dome" air defense systems.
In his order directing the Pentagon to end diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, Trump said the programs discourage merit and leadership, and discriminate on the basis of race and sex. The order also applies to the Coast Guard, which is governed by the Department of Homeland Security.
Trump said he is "committed to meritocracy and to the elimination of race-based and sex-based discrimination within the Armed Forces of the United States. No individual or group within our Armed Forces should be preferred or disadvantaged on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, color, or creed."
Pete Hegseth, the new secretary of defense, has 90 days to submit a report to the Trump administration detailing all of the department's current DEI programs and offices, according to Trump's executive order. Both the departments of defense and homeland security have 30 days to submit a plan to meet the guidelines laid out in Monday's order, and 180 days to present a progress report.
The order additionally prohibits the military from telling its members that "America's founding documents are racist or sexist," or from teaching them about gender ideology – defined by the administration as "an ever-shifting concept of self-assessed gender identity."
"In addition, these institutions shall be required to teach that America and its founding documents remain the most powerful force for good in human history," the order said.
The president recently signed an executive order cutting DEI programs from the federal government, subsequently placing employees in those departments on paid leave.
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