FTC grants chairman authority to comply with Trump’s orders on DEI programs

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Thursday granted Chairman Andrew Ferguson the authority needed to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive orders slashing DEI programs in federal agencies. 

The move comes after Ferguson on Wednesday denounced DEI, or diversity, equity, and inclusion, programs as “a scourge on our institutions.” 

“President Trump promised the American people that he would end it. He has done so in three amazing executive orders,” Ferguson wrote on X. “Under my leadership, the FTC is doing its part to end the DEI plague. We are done with DEI at the FTC. No DEI office, no DEI influence on hiring, no DEI programming. It is over.” 

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FTC Commissioner Andrew Ferguson was tapped to chair the FTC last month.  (Screenshot/Federal Trade Commission / Fox News)

That same day, Ferguson laid out a series of actions to purge the FTC of DEI-related initiatives at the FTC. Since some of these would require Commission votes to end, Ferguson said the Commission would be considering a motion to grant him the authority to bring the federal agency into compliance with the president’s orders. 

President Donald Trump signs a series of executive orders at the White House on January 20, 2025, in Washington, DC.  (Jabin Botsford /The Washington Post via Getty Images / Getty Images)

On Thursday, the FTC approved the motion by a vote of 2-1-2, giving Chairman Ferguson the necessary authority to do just that. Commissioners Rebecca K. Slaughter and Lina M. Khan did not participate in the vote. 

The FTC is merely one of many federal agencies being purged of DEI-related programs after President Donald Trump retook the White House this week. 

Trump signed an executive order on Monday to eliminate all DEI programs from the federal government.

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US President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address after being sworn in as the 47th President of the United States in the Rotunda of the US Capitol on January 20, 2025, in Washington, DC. (CHIP SOMODEVILLA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Trump issued two other executive actions on Tuesday targeting DEI — an executive order to end discrimination in the workplace and higher education through race- and sex-based preferences under the guise of DEI and a memo to eliminate a Biden administration policy that prioritized DEI hiring at the Federal Aviation Administration.

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Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.