Trump called for the end of DEI programs.
President Donald Trump is calling for the elimination of federal Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, or DEI, programs.
Fox – Seattle
WASHINGTON — The acting secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs demanded that her staff report efforts to cover up diversity, equity and inclusion programs targeted for elimination by the Trump administration.
Acting Veterans Affairs Secretary Todd Hunter’s email told his staff that he was “aware of efforts by some in the government to hide these programs by using coded or false language.”
He directed employees with knowledge of DEI’s efforts to change contracts or job descriptions to report within 10 days. Failure to report that information, he wrote, “could have adverse consequences.”
The Department of Veterans Affairs’ effort follows President Donald Trump’s executive order to end DEI programs in the federal government.
One of Trump’s first official actions after taking office on Monday was to close executive branch DEI offices and order those employees to be furloughed.
“These programs have divided Americans along racial lines, wasted taxpayer dollars, and resulted in shameful discrimination,” Hunter wrote in his email.
USA TODAY obtained the email from an employee on condition of anonymity.
A request for comment to the department was not immediately returned.
Trump has nominated former Georgia Republican U.S. Rep. Doug Collins as VA secretary. Collins is a former Georgia congressman and US Air Force Reserve Command chaplain.
