The Trump administration on Tuesday ordered officials who oversee diversity, equity and inclusion efforts across federal agencies to be placed on leave and take steps to close their offices by Wednesday evening.
In a memo from the Office of Personnel Management, department and agency heads were ordered to purge those officials by placing all DEI employees on paid administrative leave, effective at 5 p.m. Wednesday, and to make plans to reduce staffing by the end. Today is January 31st.
the The note is also addressed Agencies to remove any language or announcements about their DEI initiatives and withdraw any outstanding documents or guidance that would undermine the new orders. It also ordered agency heads to inform DEI officials that their offices would be closed and employees would be questioned about whether any remaining efforts remained “disguised” in cryptic or inaccurate language.
The directive was a quick attempt to implement elements President Trump’s executive order on day one Dismantling Federal Diversity Efforts In a new executive order issued Tuesday, Trump encouraged the private sector to follow the federal government’s lead and “end unlawful discrimination and preferences in the DEI arena and comply with all federal civil rights laws.” His order also directed agencies to investigate companies and institutions’ compliance with those laws.
While the federal government does not have authority over many private sector practices, it does have discretion to apply its rules to highly dependent private contractors and subcontractors who will be subject to the new rules. In anticipation of Mr. Trump taking office, several companies, From Meta and McDonald’s, They have backed away from their DEI initiatives.
Tuesday’s order said DEI policies “undermine our national unity, because they deny, denigrate, and undermine traditional American values of hard work, excellence, and individual achievement in favor of an unlawful, destructive, and harmful identity-based spoils system.” “.
“But in case after case, the American people have witnessed firsthand the disastrous consequences of unlawful and harmful discrimination that prioritized how people were born rather than what they could do,” the order said.
Within hours of being sworn in, Mr. Trump rescinded several executive orders signed by his predecessor, Joseph R. Biden Jr. The first was an order that Mr. Biden signed on his first day in office, titled “Promoting Racial and Racial Equity.” Supporting Underserved Communities,” which ordered federal agencies to integrate equity into nearly all policymaking during his tenure.
Mr. Biden has taken pride in putting racial equity at the center of his policy making, in areas including the environment, infrastructure, the economy and health care.
Mr. Trump’s orders reflect Mr. Biden’s position that a government committed to reversing decades of discrimination and neglect in disenfranchised communities is a course correction for the nation, not a threat to its future.
Instead, the executive actions are attempts to make good on Mr. Trump’s promise to eliminate “radical” policies and “wasteful” spending on initiatives aimed at combating systemic inequality, which has angered conservatives who say diversity initiatives amount to eliminating discrimination and racial violence. . Preferences.” Mr. Trump’s order on Tuesday called for the elimination of programs aimed at “diversity,” “equity” and “fair decision making,” among other terms.
Mr. Trump amplified these calls during his inaugural address to the nation upon taking office, vowing to halt efforts to “socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life.”
“We will shape a color-blind, merit-based society,” Mr. Trump declared during his speech.
Carolyn Leavitt, White House press secretary, said in a statement that the new guidance “should not come as a surprise.”
“President Trump has campaigned on ending the scourge of DEI from our federal government and returning America to a merit-based society where people are hired based on their skills, not the color of their skin,” the statement read. “This is another victory for Americans of all races, religions and beliefs. Promises were made, and promises were kept.”
Zolan Kanu Young Contributed to reports.
