White House Orders DEI Employees in Government to Take Leave Amid Policy Changes
White House Press Secretary Carolyn Levitt announced in a post that all federal Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEI) departments will take paid administrative leave “effective immediately.”
The new administration has taken a number of moves, including cutting federal DEI jobs. As soon as he wins office, Donald Trump has pledged to begin a campaign against these programs. Trump has already made well-publicized cuts to military troops and ended the use of DEI in federal contracts and appointments. Some big businesses have also responded to pressure from conservative critics and customers by taking similar steps.
A memorandum released by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management on Tuesday instructed agencies to notify DEI employees “before 5:00 p.m. EST on Wednesday evening” that they are to be placed on immediate administrative leave as the “agency takes steps to close/terminate” DEIA initiatives, offices, and programs.
The memo also directs agencies to remove DEI-related content from their websites and social media accounts, and cancel any DEI-related training.
White House Orders DEI Employees in Government to Take Leave Amid Policy Changes
CBS News first reported the memo.
This move comes just one day after Trump signed an executive order banning DEI programs. During a briefing call with reporters on Monday, an official promised that the executive order would “eliminate the DEI bureaucracy,” which includes programs like environmental justice, equity-related grants, equity work plans, and equity initiatives.
The White House also issued a fact sheet on Tuesday detailing the order to end the use of DEI in federal contracts and “instructing federal agencies to continually combat discrimination in the private sector.”
The order directs the Office of Management and Budget to “increase speed and efficiency, reduce costs, and streamline the federal contracting process to ensure that federal contractors and subcontractors comply with our civil rights laws” and “restricts the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs,” according to the fact sheet, which mentions contractors being incentivized to balance their workforce based on race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or religion.
Pregnant women, military spouses, rural communities, and caregivers are just a few of the groups of Americans for whom President Joe Biden has signed executive orders extending DEI safeguards in government employment.
DEI initiatives are criticized for being discriminatory, damaging other groups, especially white Americans, in an effort to combat racial prejudice. However, supporters and industry experts say the decades-old practice has been politicized and widely misunderstood.
These programs have also been targeted by Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency, which he appointed tech billionaire Elon Musk to lead.
Examples of DEI-related programs in major federal agencies include the Equal Employment Opportunity, Diversity, and Inclusion Office in the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity Policy Office in the Department of Defense.
The proposed budgets for 20 federal agencies were previously examined by CNN. In their budget recommendations for fiscal years 2024 and 2025, each agency made reference to diversity programs, but they did not specifically include DEI spending.
The Department of Defense and Health and Human Services are two federal departments that have entire offices devoted to DEI. Other departments have programs that include funding for minority-owned business development, as well as diversity recruitment and training efforts.
The Trump administration’s attacks on DEI will likely face legal challenges. CNN has previously reported that hundreds of civil rights and advocacy groups are preparing for legal battles against the Republican efforts to eliminate DEI, and the American Civil Liberties Union told CNN last month that it is carefully reviewing all public statements by the Department of Justice under Trump, as well as comments made during the campaign trail.
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