Trump administration steps up crackdown on DEI in latest threat to federal workers

The Trump administration on Wednesday threatened federal employees with “serious consequences” if they don’t report co-workers who defy orders to clean up diversity, equity and inclusion efforts from their agency.

Tens of thousands of workers have been notified that officials will not tolerate any effort “to hide these programs through translated or unclear language.” The email sent, based on a template from the Office of Personnel Management, gave employees 10 days to report their observations to a personal email account without risk of disciplinary action.

“This information will not have a negative impact on the timely reporting,” said the template sent to the agency chief. “However, failure to report this information within 10 days may result in serious consequences.”

The message also said: “These programs have divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars and created shameful discrimination.”

Some agencies, such as the Department of Education and the Department of State, sent the templates to their employees on Wednesday. Other agencies have made minor changes when sending emails to their employees. The Department of Homeland Security, for example, has said that failing to report on DEI’s efforts will “result in” negative consequences.

The warning is an escalation of President Trump’s fight against diverse programs that seek to reverse decades of legal inequality. They are also part of a broader attack on the federal workforce, which the president views as a bloated bureaucracy. He promised to cancel the departments and ordered the remote workers to return to the office.

In his inaugural address, Mr. Trump said he would end efforts “to create race and gender in all aspects of public and private life.”

“We will build a society without color and based on dignity,” Mr. Trump said.

On Tuesday night, the Trump administration issued a memorandum that employees working in DEI offices across the government will be placed on administrative leave as of 5 p.m. Wednesday, the first step in the complete closure of offices and programs. The agency was ordered to develop a plan to remove employees from the office, which is responsible for solving accessibility problems for people with disabilities, by January 31.

The directive was realized within hours of the issuance of this memorandum.

The stop work order was issued on Wednesday morning. A contractor for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, has been asked to suspend the agency’s demographic data collection project, which for years has documented in detail gender, race, and veteran status. The person said the results of last year’s DEI investigation will not be released next month, as planned.

Also on Wednesday, a live broadcast planned by US Citizenship and Immigration Services to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. was canceled, according to emails obtained by The New York Times. The event for asylum and refugee workers, scheduled for January 29, is intended to inspire speakers who will discuss the legacy of Dr. King and the reading of his speech “I have a dream”.

Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said Mr Trump’s attack on DEI was “just a smokescreen for public sector layoffs”.

“The federal government has been recruiting and promoting individuals on merit,” said Mr. Kelley.

Dariely Rodriguez, co-counsel for the Lawyers’ Committee on Civil Rights Under Law, said the order betrayed a fundamental misunderstanding of DEI’s actions, and that the government The federal government still has to follow human rights laws.

“DEI is not about private treatment,” said Ms. Rodriguez. “It’s about breaking down barriers.”

In the last few days, Mr. Trump has rescinded a 60-year-old executive order, dating back to Lyndon B. Johnson, that prohibits discrimination in hiring practices in federal government contracts. And he ordered the Federal Aviation Administration to end hiring practices that seek diversity, equity and inclusion, arguing that such practices harmed airline passengers.

The Trump administration said that under the Biden administration, the FAA “sought to specifically recruit and hire individuals with significant disabilities that could affect the performance of their life-saving responsibilities.” It did not cite an example, and management officials did not respond to a request.

Some conservative groups praised Mr. Trump’s actions. Yukong Mike Zhao, president of the Asian American Education Association, called Mr. Trump’s order “important for the advancement of American civil rights and an important step in building a color-blind society.”

“Affirmative action and DEI’s programs are racist,” said Mr. Zhao, whose group supported Harvard’s lawsuit against affirmative action in college admissions.

The escalation of the effort in recent days has spread fear and confusion among federal employees, officials who spoke to The Times said.

An administration official who received the email urging employees to report their co-workers said it made them feel like they were being recruited into the Gestapo. One employee told The Times that the co-worker reporting guidelines made him feel like he was living in the Soviet Union. The Times reviewed emails from more than half a dozen agencies, including AmeriCorps, which oversees volunteer and service programs.

Several agencies have announced their plans to comply with the new rules.

A CIA spokeswoman said Wednesday that the agency has disbanded its office of diversity and inclusion, and its staff is “focused on its intelligence mission.”

Under former CIA director William J. Burns, the diversity office provided training to intelligence officers to promote the environment and improve recruitment.

Other agencies are still uncertain about the meaning of Mr. Trump for them. At the Environmental Protection Agency, which has an external environmental and civil rights litigation office, some employees said they were unsure if they would have work Thursday.

Matthew Tejada, who served as deputy assistant attorney general under President Joseph R. Biden Jr., said he hired many people who could be at risk.

“People don’t work at EPA because they’re looking for federal jobs,” Mr. Tejada said. “They work at the EPA because they want to protect the environment and people’s health.”

Michael D. Shear, Julian Barnes SY Eric Schmitt contributed to the report.