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(CNN) — Employees in any 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.
Slashing jobs in federal DEI positions is one move in a series of actions taken by the new administration, after Donald Trump promised to wage a war against such programs and take on the practice on Day 1. Trump has already cut high-profile military personnel and ended the use of DEI in hiring and federal contracting. Some major companies have taken similar measures as they face pressure from conservative critics and customers.
A memo issued by the US Office of Personnel Management on Tuesday instructed agencies to notify DEI staffers “no later than 5:00pm EST on Wednesday” that they were being placed on administrative leave effective immediately as “the agency takes steps to close/end all DEIA initiatives, offices and programs.”
The memo also directs agencies to remove the offices’ websites and social media accounts and to cancel any DEI-related trainings.
CBS News first reported the memo.
The move comes just one day after Trump signed an executive order banning DEI programs. On a briefing call with reporters Monday, an official pledged the executive 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 for an order ending the use of DEI in federal contracting and “directing federal agencies to relentlessly combat private sector discrimination.”
The order directs the Office of Management and Budget “to streamline the federal contracting process to enhance speed and efficiency, reduce costs, and require Federal contractors and subcontractors to comply with our civil rights laws” and “bars the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs from pushing contractors to balance their workforce based on race, sex, gender identity, sexual preference, or religion,” according to the fact sheet.
President Joe Biden expanded government workplace DEI protections by signing a number of executive orders widening 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 solve racial discrimination by disadvantaging other groups, particularly White Americans. But supporters and industry experts insist the decades-old practice has been politicized and is widely misunderstood.
The programs have also been in the crosshairs of Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency, which he has tapped tech billionaire Elon Musk to lead.
Examples of programs involving DEI in major federal agencies include the the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Equal Employment Opportunity, Diversity & Inclusion, and the Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity Policy at the Department of Defense.
CNN previously analyzed the proposed budgets of 20 federal agencies. While each noted diversity initiatives in fiscal year 2024 and fiscal year 2025 budget requests, they didn’t all explicitly detail DEI expenditures.
Some federal departments have entire offices dedicated to DEI, like the ones at DOD and HHS. There are also programs across departments that include money for things such as minority-owned business development, as well as diversity recruitment and training efforts.
The attack on DEI by the Trump administration will likely face legal challenges. CNN has previously reported that hundreds of civil rights and advocacy groups are preparing for the numerous legal fights that would come from Republican efforts to dismantle DEI, and the American Civil Liberties Union told CNN last month it’s carefully reviewing all public statements from DOGE, the incoming Trump administration, as well as comments made on the campaign trail.
This story has been updated with additional details.
CNN’s Jack Forrest, Rene Marsh and Pamela Brown contributed to this report.
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