White House vows to implement ‘system of merit’ in US, dismantle DEI ‘strangulation’
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller touted President Donald Trump’s efforts to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion programs on Thursday.
Miller appeared alongside White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt during a Thursday morning briefing, declaring that the administration is bringing a “system of merit” back to the U.S.
“This administration is not going to let our society devolve into communist, woke, DEI strangulation,” Miller said. “We are going to have a system of merit.”
“It’s not just a social and cultural issue, it’s an economic issue. When you hire, retain and recruit based on merit as President Trump has directed, you advance innovation, you advance growth, you advance investment, you advance job creation,” he continued.
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“When a citizen goes to, say, a hospital in a medical emergency, they don’t care what race or sex their doctor or their nurse is. They want the best treatment they can get in that emergency,” he added.
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Trump’s administration has taken big steps to cut DEI programs throughout the federal government, from the Pentagon to the Department of Education.
Trump shut down all DEI offices across the federal government during his first week in office and signed a number of executive orders to quickly undo former President Joe Biden’s efforts on the issue.
The administration is also leveraging federal funding in an effort to force the nation’s top universities to eliminate DEI programs as well.
In February, the Department of Education also warned state education departments that they must remove DEI policies or risk losing federal funding.
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The Trump administration threatened to pull federal funding if Harvard did not reform governance and leadership, as well as its hiring and admissions practices by August 2025. The letter emphasized the need for Harvard to change its international admissions process to avoid admitting students who are “hostile” to American values or support terrorism or antisemitism.
Harvard has so far refused to comply.
Fox News’ Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.