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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 21 (Monday, February 3, 2025)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 8763-8765]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-02181]



                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 90 , No. 21 / Monday, February 3, 2025 / 
Presidential Documents

[[Page 8763]]

                Executive Order 14185 of January 27, 2025

                
Restoring America's Fighting Force

                By the authority vested in me as President by the 
                Constitution and the laws of the United States of 
                America, it is hereby ordered:

                Section 1. Purpose. As Chief Executive and as Commander 
                in Chief, I am 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.

                Unfortunately, in recent years civilian and uniformed 
                leadership alike have implemented Diversity, Equity, 
                and Inclusion (DEI) programs and their attendant race 
                and sex preferences within the Armed Forces. These 
                actions undermine leadership, merit, and unit cohesion, 
                thereby eroding lethality and force readiness. They 
                also violate Americans' consciences by engaging in 
                invidious race and sex discrimination.

                Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of my Administration 
                that the Department of Defense, the Department of 
                Homeland Security with regard to the United States 
                Coast Guard (USCG), and every element of the Armed 
                Forces should operate free from any preference based on 
                race or sex.

                Sec. 3. Definitions. (a) A ``DEI office'' means an 
                office, division, job, or other unit of an institution 
                established for the purpose of:

(i) influencing hiring or employment practices at the institution with 
respect to race, sex, color, or ethnicity, other than through the use of 
color-blind and sex-neutral hiring processes; or

(ii) promoting differential treatment of or providing special benefits to 
individuals on the basis of race, sex, color, or ethnicity.

                    (b) The term ``gender ideology'' has the meaning 
                given to that term in section 2(f) of the Executive 
                Order of January 20, 2025, (Defending Women from Gender 
                Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to 
                the Federal Government).
                    (c) The term ``divisive concepts'' has the meaning 
                given to that term in section 2(a) of Executive Order 
                13950 of September 22, 2020 (Combating Race and Sex 
                Stereotyping).

                Sec. 4. Abolishing the DEI Bureaucracy. The Secretary 
                of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 
                abolish every DEI office within the Department of 
                Defense and the Department of Homeland Security with 
                regard to the USCG, respectively, including any 
                vestiges of DEI offices, such as sub-offices, programs, 
                elements, or initiatives established to promote a race-
                based preferences system that subverts meritocracy, 
                perpetuates unconstitutional discrimination, and 
                promotes divisive concepts or gender ideology.

                Sec. 5. Department of Defense Internal Review. The 
                Secretary of Defense shall conduct an internal review 
                that documents actions taken in pursuit of DEI 
                initiatives, including all instances of race and sex 
                discrimination and activities designed to promote a 
                race- or sex-based preferences system. The report shall 
                be delivered to the Secretary of Defense within 90 days 
                of the date of this order.

[[Page 8764]]

                Sec. 6. Protecting American Values. (a) The Department 
                of Defense and the Armed Forces, including any 
                educational institution operated or controlled thereby, 
                are prohibited from promoting, advancing, or otherwise 
                inculcating the following un-American, divisive, 
                discriminatory, radical, extremist, and irrational 
                theories:

(i) ``divisive concepts,'' as defined in section 3(c) of this order, and 
``race or sex stereotyping,'' or ``race or sex scapegoating'' as both terms 
are defined in section 2 of Executive Order 13950, as amended;

(ii) that America's founding documents are racist or sexist; and

(iii) ``gender ideology,'' as defined in section 3(b) of this order.

                    (b) The Department of Defense and the Armed Forces 
                shall not hire employees, contractors, or consultants 
                to teach the theories set forth in subsection (a) of 
                this section.
                    (c) The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of 
                Homeland Security shall carefully review the 
                leadership, curriculum, and instructors of the United 
                States Service Academies and other defense academic 
                institutions associated with their respective 
                Departments to ensure alignment with this order. 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.

                Sec. 7. Implementation. (a) The Secretary of Defense 
                and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall issue 
                detailed guidance for the implementation of this order 
                to their respective departments within 30 days of the 
                date of this order.

                    (b) Within 180 days of the date of this order, the 
                Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland 
                Security shall submit a report through the Deputy Chief 
                of Staff for Policy documenting the progress of their 
                respective Departments in implementing this order, and 
                any recommendations for action to fulfill the 
                objectives of this order.

                Sec. 8. Severability. If any provision of this order, 
                or the application of any provision to any person or 
                circumstance, is held to be invalid, the remainder of 
                this order and the application of its provisions to any 
                other persons or circumstances shall not be affected 
                thereby.

                Sec. 9. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order 
                shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department, agency, or the 
head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

                    (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with 
                applicable law and subject to the availability of 
                appropriations.

[[Page 8765]]

                    (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, 
                create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, 
                enforceable at law or in equity by any party against 
                the United States, its departments, agencies, or 
                entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any 
                other person.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

                THE WHITE HOUSE,

                    January 27, 2025.

[FR Doc. 2025-02181
Filed 1-31-25; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F4-P
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