Education Department employees placed on paid leave as part of Trump administration’s DEI purge

(CNN) — Dozens of employees at the Education Department were placed on paid administrative leave Friday as part of the Trump administration’s larger effort to rid the federal workforce of employees associated with diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility efforts, two sources familiar with the move told CNN.

The department sent letters to employees informing them that their email accounts were being suspended but that they would continue to receive paychecks for an indefinite period, the sources said.

The department cited guidance from the White House’s Office of Personnel and Management, issued on January 21, that directed government agencies to notify “all employees of DEIA offices that they are being placed on paid administrative leave effective immediately as the agency takes steps to close/end all DEIA initiatives, offices and programs.”

The agency is the latest to face upheaval amid the White House’s efforts to weed out DEI programs within the government and reshape the federal workforce in President Donald Trump’s image.

In a statement to CNN on Monday, Madi Biedermann, an Education Department spokesperson, said the agency is “evaluating staffing in line with the commitment to prioritizing meaningful learning ahead of divisive ideology in schools and putting student outcomes above special interests.”

At least 55 Education Department employees, including senior-level career workers who have served at the agency for decades, were notified Friday night that they’d been placed on paid leave, according to the American Federation of Government Employees, the union representing the agency’s career officials.

“Effective January 31, 2025, you will be placed on administrative leave with full pay and benefits pursuant to the President’s executive order on DEIA and further guidance from OPM,” the letter says, according to a copy obtained by CNN. “This administrative leave is not being done for any disciplinary purpose.”

According to the union, these employees do not hold job titles nor official duties related to DEIA, but they included staffers such as civil rights attorneys who handle student discrimination and antisemitism complaints; an employee working in a grant office; and a member of the artificial intelligence team helping the department understand AI in education.

But Sheria Smith, union president for Department of Education career employees, told CNN the employees placed on paid leave had attended a two-day diversity training seminar in 2019 during the first Trump administration “that was required for senior-level employees and strongly encouraged for others,” as well as similar training under the Biden administration. Others affected had either participated in a one-day lunch training on DEI or had volunteered with an agency group or committee that plans programs such as Black History Month celebrations.

The diversity training for Education Department employees was encouraged during the first Trump administration under then-Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, whose goal was for 400 employees to attend the sessions, according to the union.

Because of the large participation in the 2019 training seminar, the union is worried that hundreds more Department of Education staffers could be affected.

“We’ve filed several requests for information with the agency to get a clear understanding of what’s happening and how many employees overall will be impacted,” Smith told CNN, but the union has not received any additional information.

The New York Times first reported on the letters sent to Education Department employees informing them that they were being put on paid administrative leave.

The White House last month ordered government DEI employees to be placed on administrative leave and ended the use of DEI in hiring and federal contracting.

“The mission of the agency is stalled because this administration has forced these people to stop performing work for the American people,” Smith told CNN.

Agency leaders were also instructed to ask employees to report any efforts to “disguise these programs” in federal jobs and contract descriptions since the November election.

This story has been updated with comment from the Department of Education.

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