The Trump administration has ordered federal agencies to place all employees in diversity, equity and inclusion roles on administrative leave by Wednesday evening, and to develop plans to lay them off by the end of the month.
gave MemoryReleased Tuesday by the Office of Personnel Management, President Donald Trump is part of Aggressive reversal of federal DEI policies of his predecessor.
Federal agencies have ET on until 5 p.m. Wednesday to place DEI employees on paid leave and remove all public web pages of DEI offices. Agencies have until Jan. 31 to submit a plan for “retrenchment” of those employees.
The memo also orders the termination of all DEI-related training and contracts and encourages employees to file reports if they suspect any such program has been “disguised” under different terms or “Negative consequences” are encountered.
It’s unclear how many people in the federal workforce will be affected by the cuts. Meanwhile, the White House has called the crackdown on DEI programs a “victory for Americans.”
“President Trump campaigned to end the scourge of DEI from our federal government and return America to a merit-based society where people are hired based on their skills,” White House press secretary Carolyn Levitt said in a statement. goes, not for the color of their skin,” White House press secretary Carolyn Levitt said in a statement. Tuesday night.
Trump pledged during the campaign to end DEI programs in the federal government, and he signed one. Executive order To close all federal DEI offices and initiatives on his first day back in office, calling them “illegal and immoral discriminatory programs.”
In recent years, Republicans have targeted their anger. But DEI program As part of An Anti-“Wake” CrusadeClaiming that such measures promote discrimination and are racially divisive. Some have even used it as an attack against prominent people of color, such as the “DEI hire” accusations leveled against Vice President Kamala Harris during the election. However, advocates have argued that the DEI program, Despite their flawsare a means to advance equity in schools and workplaces, and that they help recruit and retain talent beyond traditional channels.
