"I hereby order the Secretary of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administrator to immediately return to non-discriminatory, merit-based hiring, as required by law," the directive read.

Trump's executive order ends the government's DEI programs, impacting everything from anti-bias training to funding for minority homeowners.

All diversity, equity and inclusion federal employees are to be placed on paid leave no later than Wednesday evening, the Trump administration ordered Tuesday as it continued its attack on DEI initiatives and programs.