FTC Chairman Ferguson Announces that DEI is Over at the FTC

Today, Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson announced that the agency is delivering on the promise that President Trump made to the American people and issued the following statement:

DEI is a scourge on our institutions. It denies to all Americans the Constitution’s promise of equality before the law. It divides people into castes on the basis of immutable characteristics, and treats them as caste members rather than as individuals. It stokes tensions by elevating race and other immutable characteristics above merit and excellence. It promotes invidious discrimination. And it violates federal and natural law.

The Biden-Harris Administration reveled in this pernicious ideology. They encouraged it, and it has festered within the federal government for four years.

No more. President Trump was elected on a promise to confront this dangerous ideology and free the federal government from this illegal and discriminatory practice. Within hours of his inauguration, he delivered on this promise to the American people. He issued three executive orders entitled Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing, Initial Recissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions, and Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity. Those three orders collectively terminate DEI-related activities and programs within the federal government. In doing so, President Trump is enforcing federal civil rights laws, protecting equality before the law, and adhering to the Constitution.

Chairman Ferguson has taken the following actions to protect the FTC’s employees and the American people from DEI:

• Closed the FTC’s DEI office—the Office of Workplace Inclusivity and Opportunity—and has placed all employees within that office on administrative leave.
• Terminated the Diversity Council.
• Removed materials promoting DEI on the Commission’s website.
• Ordered a review of all FTC contracts, which concluded that no FTC contracts currently in force contained DEI ideology.
• Ordered the heads of the Commission’s Bureaus and Offices to conduct an internal audit by tomorrow to ensure total compliance with President Trump’s orders, and to terminate any noncompliant programs immediately.
• Ordered an immediate review of all Commission orders to ensure that the Biden Administration’s DEI dictates did not make their way into formal Commission decisions.
• Forbid the Commission from promoting DEI in any internal or external operations, rules, law-enforcement decisions, or hiring decisions.

Some DEI-related directives, documents, or programs—including the current strategic plan—may not necessarily be brought into compliance under the Chairman’s existing authority. Accordingly, Chairman Ferguson will make a motion requesting that the Commission delegate to him the authority he needs to be able to comply fully with President Trump’s orders.