President Donald Trump is placing all federal diversity, equity, and inclusion ( DEI ) staff on leave by 5:00 p. m. Wednesday, setting up huge cuts for the heavy stack who injected the philosophy into government agencies.
According to a document from the Office of Personnel Management, following an administrative order from Trump, all national workers who serve in DEI jobs may be placed on left by the end of the workday Wednesday. All money for La activities is being cut across companies.
Trump’s behavior on DEI may send shockwaves through organizations and colleges as well.
“The public lawyers for every big company and school are going to be reading President Trump’s professional orders on La and figuring out how they can prevent getting ruined by federal civil rights doctors, ” Christopher Rufo noted on social media. “ Huge changes imminent. ”
The document directs firms to deliver agency-wide finds informing staff of the closures and asks them to record efforts to attempt to mask the programs. It also directs the removal of all outward facing DEI media like websites and social media.
Employees will be notified of their paid administrative leave, which will be effective immediately, possibly using suggested language included in the memorandum which describes the programs as having “divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars, and resulted in shameful discrimination. ”
“We are aware of efforts by some in government to disguise these programs by using coded or imprecise language, ” the template letter to employees continues. “If you are aware of a change in any contract description or personnel position description since November 5, 2024 to obscure the connection between the contract and DEIA or similar ideologies, please report all facts and circumstances to DEIAtruth@opm. gov within 10 days. ”
The letter says there will be no adverse consequences for timely reporting, but adverse consequences will kick in after 10 days.
Another letter informs DEI employees that they are not to show up to work or perform any duties during administrative leave, and that their access to emails will be suspended.
OPM also directed agencies to cancel all DEI trainings and halt all related contractors.
By noon Thursday, each agency is required to report to OPM all DEI offices, employees, and contracts. On Jan. 31, by 5:00 p. m. , agencies will be required to provide a “reduction-in-force ” plan for all DEI employees, meaning those employees will ultimately be terminated.
Trump’s DEI executive order and OPM’s directive can also be coupled with the president ’s recission of executive order 11246, an affirmative action measure signed by President Lyndon Johnson:
Roughly 60 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, critical and influential institutions of American society, including the Federal Government, major corporations, financial institutions, the medical industry, large commercial airlines, law enforcement agencies, and institutions of higher education have adopted and actively use dangerous, demeaning, and immoral race- and sex-based preferences under the guise of so-called ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion ’ ( DEI ) or ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility ’ ( DEIA ) that can violate the civil-rights laws of this Nation.
Illegal DEI and DEIA policies not only violate the text and spirit of our longstanding Federal civil-rights laws, they also undermine our national unity, as they deny, discredit, and undermine the traditional American values of hard work, excellence, and individual achievement in favor of an unlawful, corrosive, and pernicious identity-based spoils system. Hardworking Americans who deserve a shot at the American Dream should not be stigmatized, demeaned, or shut out of opportunities because of their race or sex.
That order directs the attorney general to submit recommendations as to how to enforce civil rights law on private sector adherents to DEI ideology, including corporations, non-profits, state and local bars, medical associations, and colleges and universities with endowments over$ 1 billion.
Breccan F. Thies is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. He previously covered education and culture issues for the Washington Examiner and Breitbart News. He holds a degree from the University of Virginia and is a 2022 Claremont Institute Publius Fellow. You can follow him on X: @BreccanFThies.
