Federal agency workers say that President Donald Trump’s executive order to end government employee diversity, equity, and inclusion programs threatens professional groups that support employees, many of whom come from marginalized backgrounds. They say this includes removing posters about diversity and banning cultural musicians from performing.
Employee resource groups (ERGs) are voluntary, employee-led affinity groups. According to several federal agency employees who spoke to NBC News, their ERGs have been placed on hold, with meetings and events abruptly canceled to comply with the executive order. According to other ERG participants, they took proactive measures to close their groups or eliminate email distribution lists because they were concerned that any possible violation with the mandate would jeopardize their employment.
Employees claim that the effects have been disastrous and that the workplace is already starting to deteriorate.
One Treasury Department employee who is a member of an LGBTQ-related ERG but asked to remain anonymous out of concern for reprisals stated, “I’ve been here for four years, and in that time we’ve made progress to help employees just have a better lived work experience.” Suddenly, four years later, our labor is being undone entirely. Two steps back, one stride forward. I’m depressed right now.
Karoline Leavitt, the press secretary for the White House, said in a statement that the action was an example of promises made and kept.
According to her, President Trump ran on a platform of eliminating DEI from the federal government and restoring America to a merit-based economy where candidates are chosen on the basis of their qualifications rather than their skin color. For Americans of all races, faiths, and creeds, this is just another victory.
Shortly after Trump signed the executive order criticizing DEI programs, which he has characterized as an example of humiliating discrimination and massive public waste, on his first day in office last week, changes to the ERGs started. The administration has started to place federal employees whose work falls under DEI on leave, but those who spoke to NBC News expressed surprise that the directive also applied to their voluntary organizations, many of which are social in nature and provide a platform for people to network, connect, and form friendships.
The activities of her agency’s resource groups were suspended last week, and a happy hour and meeting were taken off her calendar, according to a federal employee who works for a science and technology-related organization. She also asked to remain anonymous out of concern for reprisals. She added that group leadership informed a volunteer musical group affiliated with the Hispanic ERG that it was no longer permitted to perform at any official workplace functions.
The ensemble has previously performed at retirement celebrations, workplace parties, and other events. “Now, it’s uncertain if it can even practice on federal property,” she said. The ERGs were much more than a group of people with similar backgrounds, and many of the members gave up some of their own time to attend events, plan celebrations, and other activities, thus she said it hurts.
According to her, the groups were a powerful indication to the workforce that they valued belonging as a component of job happiness and the capacity to contribute one’s whole self to work. You had a sense of belonging there.
He has never felt more afraid at work, according to another employee at a different federal department who ran an LGBTQ-related resource group and asked to remain anonymous out of concern for reprisals. He stated that last week, he received instructions to instantly remove the internal website of his ERG. However, he claimed that when he tried to do so, he found that the page had already been cleaned and now displays an access denied warning.
According to the employee, the directives have been concerning because his ERG has never been used to advance or push any kind of policy. He clarified that the group usually gets together for monthly Zoom calls to catch up or for events like baseball games.
Parents of children with physical or mental disabilities might join affinity clubs. According to him, it gives people the chance to connect with like-minded individuals, exchange life perspectives, and discover challenges and solutions.
According to the employee, the experience has made him eager for what lies ahead. He clarified that he and the other group members have made the decision to dissolve the ERG and remove the distribution lists because they are concerned that they might be used to target workers in the future. The decision was also made in response to a recent Office of Personnel Management directive that, among other things, directed agency and department chiefs to submit names of DEI offices and personnel in their respective divisions.
The employee stated, “We went ahead and deleted everything else because we don’t want people to get caught up in being added to a list.” Having to fire the trigger oneself and ultimately erase our entire existence was a really tragic step.
According to the Treasury Department staffer, official guidance on the LGBTQ-related ERG, PRISM, has not yet been sent to its members. However, the worker, who uses the pronouns they/them, stated that several department members have strongly urged them to shift the group’s activities to private, friend-to-friend correspondence. As a precaution, they said, they had also removed their email distribution lists.
Many have compared the recent changes to DEI-related programs and the ERGs to a possible new Lavender Scare, in which thousands of gay employees were fired or forced to resign from the federal workforce from the 1940s through the 1960s due to their sexuality, the worker said, adding that they saw the removal of a poster titled, Employment Discrimination is Illegal.
According to them, everyone is extremely afraid that simply being out at work could make them appear to be a DEI hire, make them the target of termination, and leave them unsure of whether their termination was due to their sexual orientation or the nature of their work.
A request for comment from NBC News was not immediately answered by the Treasury Department.
The Trump administration has implemented numerous new policies that impact the federal government, including the changes made to ERGs. In addition to ordering the closure of DEI offices and programs, the president also issued a separate order instructing the Federal Aviation Administration to stop DEI efforts, arguing that these initiatives resulted in the hiring of people with severe intellectual disabilities, mental health conditions, and total paralysis over others. Additionally, mentors at a State Department internship program were instructed in an email that NBC News was able to get to disclose any projects linked to DEI and to separate any interns working on such projects.