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Wednesday, February 12, 2025

Braun signs executive orders to streamline government, replaces DEI with MEI

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Gov. Mike Braun signed several executive orders that aim to streamline government operations.

“These executive orders deliver on Gov. Braun’s promise to make state government leaner and more efficient by streamlining state operations, boosting transparency and promoting fiscal discipline while cutting red tape,” according to a statement released by the governor’s office.

The executive orders address various aspects of state government employment, including requiring state employees to return to the office by July 1, 2025, developing key performance metrics to monitor employee performance, deregulating professional licensing and removing degree requirements “to the extent possible” for state jobs.

Sen. Rodric Bray (R-Martinsville) supports the orders.

“My caucus and I share Gov. Braun’s vision for a more efficient state government, and we applaud his swift actions taken today to help meet that goal,” Bray said in a statement. “We look forward to working with him and supporting his efforts to ensure Indiana’s government operates effectively and efficiently for all Hoosier taxpayers.”

In a statement released by the Indiana Black Legislative Caucus (IBLC), State Rep. Earl Harris Jr. (D-Chicago) and IBLC chair, responded to the governor’s orders.

“Out of all of the very real issues Hoosiers are currently facing: poor health outcomes, poverty and a lack of affordable housing, it’s extremely troubling that our new governor is starting his tenure by attacking measures to make state agencies reflective of our communities,” Harris said.

Drone view of the Indiana Statehouse, in Indianapolis. Indiana Statehouse houses the General Assembly, the office of the Governor, the Supreme Court, and other state officials.
Indiana Statehouse (Photo/Getty)

Replacing DEI with MEI

Braun also signed Executive Order 2025-14 replacing the state’s implementation of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) with merit, excellence and innovation (MEI). This order closes Indiana’s Chief Equity Inclusion and Opportunity Office and requires “direct agencies to examine policies and procedures to ensure compliance with recent Supreme Court ruling.”

In 2023, the Supreme Court ruled against colleges and universities using race as a factor in their admissions processes, effectively ending affirmative action in higher education and other institutions.

The IBLC shared their opposition to replacing DEI with MEI.

“Gov. Braun’s pivot to ‘Merit, Excellence and Innovation’ creates an insidious, false narrative that DEI leads to unqualified individuals getting promoted based only on their race or nationality,” Harris said. “This is not and has never been the case, and the insinuation is not only deeply offensive, but harmful to minority workers throughout the state.”

Indiana Black Legislative Caucus
Members of the Indiana Black Legislative Caucus spoke at a lunch event in 2019. (Photo/Tyler Fenwick)

The IBLC said that DEI was not about handouts, but it was about giving opportunities to people who had historically been left out.

The Baptist Minister’s Alliance, Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis and the National Action Network of Indiana “strongly condemn” Braun’s order to eliminate DEI.

“Replacing DEI with so-called merit, excellence, and intelligence reflects a misguided understanding of equity and ignores the systemic barriers that continue to hinder marginalized communities,” the organizations said in a joint statement.

The collective of social justice organizations call on Braun to reverse the order and instead work with community leaders to address the problems DEI was meant to resolve.

“Our state’s strength lies in its diversity, and abandoning efforts to foster inclusion jeopardizes the future we all seek to build together,” the organizations said.

Read the full list of executive orders here.

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