cnn
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Employees in all federal offices hired under the diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEI) program will be placed on paid administrative leave to apply “effective immediately,” according to a publication by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
The reduction of DEI program jobs in federal offices is one of the measures adopted by the new administration, after Donald Trump promised to wage war against this initiative and end this practice from day one. Trump has already cut high-profile military personnel and ended the use of the DEI program in hiring. Some large companies have taken similar steps under pressure from critics and conservative customers.
A memo issued by the US Office of Personnel Management on Tuesday instructed agencies to notify DEI program personnel “no later than 5:00 pm ET on Wednesday” that they were being placed on administrative leave with effective immediately as “the agency takes action to close/end all DEI initiatives, offices and programs.”
The memo also directs agencies to remove offices’ websites and social media accounts and cancel any DEI-related training.
CBS News was first to report on the memo.
The move comes just a day after Trump signed an executive order banning DEI programs. At a news conference Monday, an official promised that the order would “dismantle the DEI bureaucracy, and this includes environmental justice programs, equity-related grants, equity action plan, equity initiatives.”
The White House also released a fact sheet Tuesday on an order ending the use of the DEI program in federal contracting and “ordering federal agencies to relentlessly combat discrimination in the private sector.”
The directive directs the Office of Management and Budget to “streamline the federal contracting process to improve speed and efficiency, reduce costs, and require federal contractors and subcontractors to comply with our civil rights laws” and “prohibits “the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs pressure contractors to balance their workforce based on race, sex, gender identity, sexual preference or religion,” according to the fact sheet.
When he was president, Joe Biden expanded the government’s workplace DEI protections by signing a series of executive orders that expanded them to include a broader group of Americans, from pregnant women and military spouses to rural communities and caregivers.
Critics say DEI programs are discriminatory and attempt to solve racial discrimination by disadvantaged other groups, particularly white Americans. But supporters and industry experts insist that the decades-old practice has become politicized and widely misunderstood.
The programs have also been in the crosshairs of Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), whose leadership was appointed to technology billionaire Elon Musk.
Some examples of programs involving DEI at major federal agencies include the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Equal Employment Opportunity, Diversity and Inclusion, and the Department of Defense’s Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity Policy. .
CNN previously analyzed the proposed budgets of 20 federal agencies. While each highlighted diversity initiatives in the FY 2024 and FY 2025 budget requests, not all explicitly detailed DEI program spending.
Some federal departments have entire offices dedicated to DEI, such as those at the Department of Defense and the Department of Health and Human Services. There are also programs across departments that include money for things like minority business development, as well as diversity training and recruiting initiatives.
The Trump administration’s attack on DEI will likely face legal challenges. CNN previously reported that hundreds of civil rights and advocacy groups are preparing for the numerous legal battles that would arise from Republican efforts to dismantle the DEI. Also, the American Civil Liberties Union told CNN last month that it is carefully reviewing all public statements from DOGE, the incoming Trump administration, as well as comments made during the election campaign.
