Trump Puts Federal DEI Staff on Paid Leave as Cuts Take Shape
Federal employees in diversity, equity and inclusion roles will be placed on paid leave Wednesday as their offices related to those programs are being ordered to shut down after President Donald Trump’s executive orders, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed in a post on X.
Under a memorandum from the Office of Personnel Management, agencies were also instructed to cancel diversity, equality, inclusion trainings and terminate related contracts, and pull down websites and social media accounts for federal DEI-focused offices. Agencies would be given a week to submit a written plan for removing those employees from the federal workforce.
In a separate order Tuesday, the Trump administration moved to limit diversity preferences in federal contracting, revoking a civil rights era order that sought to reduce racial or gender disparities among government contractors. The decision would also force major US contractors like Lockheed Martin Corp., Boeing Co., General Dynamics Corp., and Leidos Holdings Inc. to certify that any diversity-focused initiatives they may have don’t violate federal law.
Trump’s order also charged agency heads to come up with plans to “deter DEI programs or principles (whether specifically denominated “DEI” or otherwise) that constitute illegal discrimination or preferences,” including at publicly-traded companies, large non-profits and foundations, as well as universities with endowments exceeding $1 billion.
Trump signed executive orders in the first hours of his new term as president to end DEI efforts in the federal government, terminate diversity programs, and remove related offices and positions.
He also rescinded more than a dozen DEI-related executive orders from former President Joe Biden’s administration, including one that sought to overturn Trump’s own ban on the federal government and its contractors from training employees on racial bias.
Photo: President Donald Trump. Photographer: Allison Robbert/AFP/Getty Images