According to a recent document from the Office of Personnel Management, the Trump administration is directing that all federal employees who work in diversity, equity, and inclusion roles be placed on paid leave by Wednesday night.
The memo, which was sent to department and agency heads on Tuesday, gives them until Wednesday at 5 p.m. ET to notify staff members that they will be placed on paid administrative leave while the agencies get ready to shut down all DEI-related programs and offices and delete all of their websites and social media accounts.
On Monday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that ordered the closure of DEI offices and programs and ended radical and inefficient diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in government agencies.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Tuesday night that President Trump ran on a platform of eliminating the evil of DEI from our federal system and restoring America to a merit-based society where individuals are employed on the basis of their abilities rather than their skin color. For Americans of all races, faiths, and creeds, this is just another victory. Promises are made and fulfilled.
The number of employees who will be impacted was not immediately apparent.
Additionally, the memo requests that by January 31st, federal agencies provide “a written plan for executing a reduction-in-force action” with respect to the individuals in DEI responsibilities.
In 2020, close to the end of his first term, Trump issued an executive order banning federal DEI initiatives. Shortly after taking office in 2021, President Joe Biden responded to it by signing racial equality-related legislation.