West Virginia governor Patrick Morrisey (R) axed diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in state government upon entering office this week, in yet another victory for opponents of the progressive hiring programs.

Morrisey enacted a flurry of executive orders after being sworn in Tuesday, including a DEI ban across all state institutions to prevent racial and gender discrimination, and preferential treatment for certain groups.

Any West Virginia government office or entity receiving state funds is now prohibited from funding DEI staff or programs, mandating DEI trainings and statements, requiring people to declare loyalty to certain viewpoints, or forcing people to disclose their personal pronouns.

All cabinet secretaries in Morrisey’s administration are tasked with completing a review of all DEI initiatives and positions in their department and providing his office with a report on their findings within 30 days. Morrisey is asking for each agency to develop a plan within 90 days for eliminating the positions.

“We’re expressly sending a letter to all of our cabinet officials and agency heads and indicating there should be a review of any potential DEI that may exist within state government,” Morrisey said during a press conference on Tuesday.

“We want to have a review of recruiting, of retention, of programs, of policies or any issue which might express an inappropriate preference for race, for sex, for national origin — some of these classes that have been used and manipulated in the past.”

Morrisey, the former attorney general of West Virginia, was elected easily this past November, defeating his Democratic rival with 62 percent of the vote. Other red states such as Florida, Texas, Iowa, and North Carolina have enacted similar DEI bans to prevent it from festering in educational institutions and government agencies.

DEI programs often fixate on immutable characteristics instead of character and shared identity, while prioritizing certain groups when it comes to hiring. Progressives implemented DEI across many American institutions in the aftermath of the Black Lives Matter riots of summer 2020.

Conservatives have spent the past few years waging a political and legal offensive against DEI, with the most notable victory being the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision barring colleges and universities from using race-based admissions policies. Opponents of DEI believe the progressive programs to be divisive and hyperfixated on identity-based grievances rather than an individual’s personality and merit.

The legal backdrop and political scrutiny facing DEI has caused numerous large corporations to roll back their DEI plans in recent months, especially those with red-state customer bases. Conservative organizations have filed a flurry of legal actions against educational and corporate DEI policies for allegedly violating federal anti-discrimination law by explicitly giving priority to specific demographic groups.

McDonald’s and Meta last week became the latest high-profile brands to cut back on DEI programming ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration next week. Trump is expected to target DEI in the federal government, colleges and universities, and corporate America upon returning to power.