DOJ leads effort to ensure federal agencies comply with Trump order making English official language

The Justice Department has released guidance for federal agencies to comply with President Trump’s Executive Order making English the official language of the United States and says the agency will lead the effort. 

"As President Trump has made clear, English is the official language of the United States," Attorney General Pamela Bondi said last week. "The department will lead the effort to codify the President’s Executive Order and eliminate wasteful, virtue-signaling policies across government agencies to promote assimilation over division."

Among the "Immediate Compliance Actions" in the DOJ's seven-page guidance document is that the department will "complete a full internal inventory of all existing non-English services, and release department-wide plans to phase out unnecessary multilingual offerings."

The department will also consider redirecting money allocated to such services toward research and programs that will "expedite English-language acquisition and increase English-language proficiency and assimilation," the document states.

The U.S. has never had an official language. However, English was already the official language in 30 states.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said last week that Trump's order in March was a ‘pivotal step’ to unify the country through a common language. She also said the DOJ respects linguistic diversity but will prioritize English.

The order also rescinds one from the Clinton administration directing agencies to increase accessibility for workers not proficient in English.

Removing extensive translation services and de-prioritizing multilingualism, as part of the guidance, will increase operational efficiency across agencies, the DOJ also says.

The White House said in announcing the Executive Order: "From the founding of our Republic, English has been used as our national language. Our nation’s historic governing documents, including the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, have all been written in English. It is therefore long past time that English is declared as the official language of the United States. A nationally designated language is at the core of a unified and cohesive society."

The White House also said: “This order recognizes and celebrates the long tradition of multilingual American citizens who have learned English and passed it to their children for generations to come."