Most Americans believe government hires should be based on merit and experience — flying in the face of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts — a recent survey from Cygnal revealed.
“Trump’s efforts to end Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in government hiring is a clear winner with the public,” the survey found, as a clear majority, 64 percent, believe government should hire individuals based on merit and experience over gender identity or race. Another 28 percent believe it should be a “mix,” and five percent remain unsure.
There is divide on party lines, as 85 percent of Republicans believe hiring should be based on merit and experience. Most Democrats, 51 percent, believe it should be based on a “mix of merit and experience and racial and gender identity.”
Most independents, 62 percent, agree that government employees should be hired based on merit and experience, and 41 percent of Democrats feel the same.
Notably, most Hispanics, 55 percent, also believe such hiring should be based on merit and experience, as do 38 percent of black Americans.
The survey was taken February 4-5, 2025, among 1,500 likely 2026 general election voters. It has a +/- 2.51 percent margin of error.
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On his first day in office, President Donald Trump took action to end the dominance of DEI that the Biden administration ushered in and embraced. He signed an executive order titled, “Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing,” ordering departments to “terminate, to the maximum extent allowed by law, all DEI, DEIA, and ‘environmental justice’ offices and positions (including but not limited to ‘Chief Diversity Officer’ positions); all ‘equity action plans,’ ‘equity’ actions, initiatives, or programs, ‘equity-related’ grants or contracts; and all DEI or DEIA performance requirements for employees, contractors, or grantees.”
He also signed an executive order that same day focused on reforming the federal hiring process.
“Federal hiring should not be based on impermissible factors, such as one’s commitment to illegal racial discrimination under the guise of ‘equity,’ or one’s commitment to the invented concept of “gender identity” over sex,” the order reads in part, noting that prioritizing these factors “subverts the will of the People, puts critical government functions at risk, and risks losing the best-qualified candidates.”
This coincides with the work of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has already saved taxpayers over $1 billion with the termination of federal DEI contracts across several government agencies. Fifteen of those contracts were within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) alone, totaling $28,187,448.
