Trump Puts DEI Employees On Paid Leave — Is This The End Of Diversity Programs?

All federal employees under the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) roles will be placed on paid leave by Wednesday evening. The move was confirmed by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on X.

A memo from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management Tuesday evening directed heads of agencies and departments to inform DEI employees "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," CNN reported.

The same memo also asked agencies to remove websites and social media accounts associated with DEI offices and cancel any related training sessions.

This action follows President Donald Trump's signing of 46 executive orders on Monday, which include a ban on DEI programs and the closure of DEI offices. Trump described these programs as "radical and wasteful."

"We will forge a society that is colorblind and merit-based," Trump said in his inauguration speech earlier this week.

It is unclear how many employees will be impacted by this decision.

The new administration's decision to eliminate jobs in federal DEI positions is merely one action taken in response to Trump's promise to eradicate such programs from Day 1. He has already dismissed important military leaders and halted DEI practices in hiring and federal contracts, CNN reported.

Additionally, the White House released a fact sheet on Tuesday detailing an order to end the use of DEI in federal contracting and "directing federal agencies to relentlessly combat private sector discrimination."

The order instructs 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."

It also "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.

On Tuesday, Trump also signed an executive order targeting diverse hiring practices at the Federal Aviation Administration, claiming that these initiatives disadvantage "hard-working Americans who want to serve in the FAA but are unable to do so, as they lack a requisite disability or skin color."

Trump's actions in the early days of his second administration continue the efforts he initiated toward the end of his first term.

In 2020, he signed an executive order banning federal DEI programs. President Joe Biden countered this by implementing measures aimed at promoting racial equality shortly after taking office in 2021.

According to critics, DEI programs are discriminatory and suggest that these programs attempt to address racial discrimination by disadvantaging other groups, particularly White Americans. Supporters and industry experts, on the other hand, say that the long-standing practice has been politicized and is often misunderstood.