CNN
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Employees in all federal diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility offices will be placed on paid administrative leave “effective immediately.” according to a post from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Cutting jobs in federal DEI positions is one of the actions taken by the new administration, after Donald Trump promised to wage war against such programs and adopt the practice from day one. Trump has already remove high-level military personnel and ended the use of DEI in federal hiring and contracting. Some large companies have took similar measures as they face pressure from conservative critics and customers.
A memo issued Tuesday by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management directed agencies to notify DEI staff members “no later than 5:00 p.m. EST Wednesday” that they were being placed on administrative leave effective immediately, as “the agency is taking steps to close/end everything.” DEIA initiatives, offices and programs.
The memo also directs agencies to remove office websites and social media accounts and cancel all DEI-related training.
CBS News the memo first reported.
The move comes just a day after Trump signed a decree banning DEI programs. At a news conference with reporters Monday, an official promised that the executive order would “dismantle the DEI bureaucracy, and that includes environmental justice programs, equity-related grants, “equity, equity initiatives”.
The White House also released a fact sheet Tuesday for an order ending the use of DEI in federal contracts and “directing federal agencies to relentlessly combat discrimination in the private sector.”
The order directs the Office of Management and Budget “to streamline the federal procurement process to improve speed and efficiency, reduce costs, and require federal contractors and subcontractors to comply with our procurement laws.” civil rights” and “prohibits the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs from pushing contractors to balance their workforce based on race, gender, gender identity, sexual preference or religion,” according to the fact sheet.
President Joe Biden has expanded DEI protections in the government workplace by signing a number of executive orders expanding them to include a broader group of Americans, from pregnant people and military spouses to rural communities and caregivers.
Critics say DEI programs are discriminatory and attempt to resolve racial discrimination by disadvantaging other groups, particularly white Americans. But advocates and industry experts insist the decades-old practice has been politicized and is widely misunderstood.
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These programs have also been in the crosshairs of Trump’s new Department of Government Effectiveness, which he named tech billionaire Elon Musk to lead.
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, as well as the Office Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity Policy of the Department of Defense.
CNN previously analyzed the proposed budgets of 20 federal agencies. While each noted diversity initiatives in the FY 2024 and FY 2025 budget requests, not all explicitly detailed DEI spending.
Some federal departments have entire offices dedicated to DEI, such as those at DOD and HHS. There are also programs across all departments that include money for things like minority business development, as well as diversity recruiting and training efforts.
The Trump administration’s attack on DEI will likely face legal challenges. CNN has previously reported that hundreds of civil rights groups are preparing for the numerous legal battles that will arise from Republican efforts to dismantle the DEI, and the American Civil Liberties Union told CNN last month that it was carefully reviewing all DOGE’s public statements, the new Trump administration, as well as comments made during the election campaign.
This story has been updated with additional details.
CNN’s Jack Forrest, Rene Marsh and Pamela Brown contributed to this report.