HOURS AFTER ASSUMING the presidency, Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders designed to end federal diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. The executive orders outlawed DEI policies in federal grants and contracts, hiring, promotions, and spending programs, directed federal agencies and departments to investigate DEI policies and efforts in the private sector, and threatened to withhold federal funding to schools and universities that pursue DEI policies in admissions, hiring, promotion, and scholarships, among other areas. In justifying the initiatives, the Trump administration argues that these policies violate decades of federal civil rights laws, the nation’s commitment to meritocracy, and the nation’s safety and well-being.   

A group of conservative states, including Missouri, Georgia, North Carolina, and Iowa, have followed Trump’s lead, shuttering their DEI initiatives in state agencies, colleges, and universities. Trump’s DEI order has resonated even in progressive states like California, where the University of California system regents recently halted DEI statements in hiring. 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, however, seems to be moving in the opposite direction.  

Attorney General Andrea Campbell, along with a coalition of 16 state attorneys general, provided written guidance to the state’s businesses, departments and agencies, educational institutions, and nonprofits stressing the legality and importance of state DEI policies. 

Gov. Maura Healey, in a recent interview with the New York Times, said of these efforts, “We’re going to keep doing what we’re doing. I am the first woman in Massachusetts history to be elected governor. I happen to be the first gay person elected governor. I don’t know where I would be if I didn’t have support and legal protections against discrimination my entire life. . . I’m not giving up on that, even if it means pulling federal funding.”

Sen. Ed Markey took a similar line, writing in a letter to the head of the Small Business Administration: “Small business owners deserve answers now — answers that show how SBA will comply with anti-discrimination laws passed by Congress that are the law of the land and that no mere executive order can undo.”

Why are Massachusetts’s most prominent statewide officials challenging President Trump over DEI policy? The results of our new statewide University of Massachusetts Amherst/WCVB Poll provide a simple answer to this question: It is what residents of the Commonwealth want their elected officials to do.

We asked residents whether they support or oppose President Trump’s executive orders that sought to end DEI programs in the federal government. The results of the poll show that a majority (52 percent) expressed opposition to ending DEI, with 44 percent strongly opposed. 

These executive orders are unpopular among many groups in the state, with pluralities or majorities of whites (50 percent), people of color (58 percent), men (46 percent), women (58 percent), young residents (47 percent), middle-aged residents (54 percent), older residents (53 percent), working class (49 percent), middle class (50 percent), and wealthy (59 percent) residents all expressing opposition. This is particularly true among groups that tend to support the Democratic Party, with strong majorities of liberals (84 percent), residents with a postgraduate degree (70 percent), Democrats (81 percent), and Kamala Harris voters (77 percent) opposing Trump’s plans.    

More broadly, most Massachusetts residents support efforts by state elected officials to challenge the policies of the Trump administration writ large. For example, six in 10 residents support Attorney General Campbell’s efforts to sue the Trump administration. Again, we find broad agreement on the topic across demographic and political groups in the state.  

We further probe support for challenging Trump by asking Bay Staters to assess how much they want Gov. Healey and the state congressional delegation to push back against the actions of the Trump administration if these actions are in conflict with state law or the US Constitution. 

Over 70 percent of residents believe that Gov. Healey (72 percent) and the state congressional delegation (74 percent) should challenge Trump either “a lot” or “some” if Trump’s actions violate state or federal law.  

One interpretation of these results is to conclude that the Bay State’s opposition to President Trump’s attempts to dismantle federal DEI policies is simply a reflection of the unpopularity of Trump in the state. While it is true that Massachusetts overwhelmingly disapproves of the president’s performance thus far (64 percent disapprove), even when we poll about DEI without any reference to Trump, residents of the Commonwealth are still broadly supportive. 

When we asked whether residents support ending state DEI efforts in the areas of education, employment, and housing, we again find a majority (52 percent) opposing such efforts, with pluralities or majorities of class, gender, generational, and racial groups expressing their opposition to the elimination of DEI policies in the state

Across the country, there is an ongoing debate about how states should respond to the new Trump administration. Elected officials in Massachusetts are providing one possible blueprint: using the legal and political tools at their disposal to check actions by the Trump administration that they believe violate state law or the US Constitution.

Given that this reflects what most Bay Staters want, they also have the benefit of knowing that they are doing their job representing most voters in the Commonwealth.

Tatishe Nteta is Provost Professor of Political Science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and director of the UMass Poll. Jesse Rhodes is a professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and co-director of the UMass Poll. Adam Eichen is a PhD student in political science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a graduate research fellow for the UMass Poll.