Washington D.C.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has sent a memo to federal agencies requiring them to shut down all Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) offices by the end of Wednesday and place workers in those offices on paid administrative leave.
OPM Acting Director Charles Ezell instructed agency heads to take immediate action, informing employees of the closure and requiring them to confirm if they knew of any attempts to disguise the programs using coded language.
By Thursday, the agencies must also submit a list of DEI offices and employees, as well as DEI-related contracts. By Friday, they must provide a plan to reduce the staff in DEI offices and identify any contract or personnel changes that were made to obscure their connection to DEI programs.
This move comes after President Trump signed an executive order on Monday aimed at eliminating DEI programs from the federal government. The President also signed another executive order recognizing only two genders: male and female.
According to the White House, DEI programs often prioritize race, sex, disability, or other criteria over qualifications and merit. The President seeks to protect Americans from discrimination and ensure that these civil rights are enforced for all Americans.
This action is a part of Trump’s efforts to end discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin and to protect individual merit, aptitude, and hard work.
In related moves, Trump issued an executive order to end discrimination in the workplace and higher education through race- and sex-based preferences under the guise of DEI, as well as a memo to eliminate a Biden administration policy that prioritized DEI hiring at the Federal Aviation Administration.