Judge Temporarily Halts CIA Officer Discharges Related to DEI Initiatives

February 18, 2025 TruthUSA

A federal judge has temporarily prevented the CIA from dismissing 11 officers who were put on leave due to their involvement in DEIA programs.

A federal judge has provisionally stopped the firings of 11 CIA officers currently on paid administrative leave for their participation in the agency’s diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) initiatives.

U.S. District Court Judge Anthony Trenga granted a five-day administrative stay on February 18, barring the CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) from terminating or placing the officers on unpaid leave while the court reviews their request for a temporary restraining order (TRO).

“Defendants shall refrain from terminating Plaintiff John Does 1-6 and Jane Does 1-5 or placing these Plaintiffs on leave without pay, so that these Plaintiffs shall remain on administrative leave with their full pay and benefits,” Trenga stated in his ruling.

The judge has scheduled a hearing for February 24 to assess whether to issue a temporary injunction preventing the officers’ dismissal.

The plaintiffs, all seasoned intelligence officers, contended in court documents that their short-term DEIA assignments, authorized by senior officials at ODNI and the CIA, were exploited as grounds for politically motivated dismissals.

They referenced President Donald Trump’s January 20 executive order, titled “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing,” which labeled existing DEIA programs as “illegal and immoral” but did not explicitly instruct the firing of employees assigned to them.

Even in the absence of a specific termination order, the plaintiffs were placed on administrative leave on January 22, purportedly solely due to their temporary DEIA duties rather than for inadequate performance or other significant issues. They were subsequently directed to report to CIA and ODNI facilities with their intelligence community (IC) access badges—a step they assert foreshadowed potential termination.

“In my experience, when a CIA officer is told to report to the visitors’ center of an Agency facility with their IC badge, it foreshadows negative employment actions against the officer, including but not limited to termination or being placed on involuntary leave without pay,” stated John Doe 1 in his declaration.

John Doe 1, a 15-year CIA officer, had been temporarily assigned to a DEIA position focused on the hiring, retention, and advancement of employees from federally protected classes. In court documents, he advocated for the national security importance of DEI, asserting that a diverse workforce improves intelligence-gathering efforts by facilitating interactions with foreign populations, enabling culturally sensitive operations, and engaging sources in restrictive environments.

The plaintiffs claim that their anticipated termination breaches the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), the First Amendment, and the Fifth Amendment. They contend that their dismissals would be arbitrary and capricious, lack factual grounds, and deny them due process.

“These individuals are being dismissed based merely on an assumption that they are leftists,” remarked the plaintiffs’ attorney, Kevin Carroll, a former CIA undercover officer, in a statement to Reuters.

Carroll disclosed that the plaintiffs are part of a broader group of 51 CIA officers who were placed on paid administrative leave on January 22 following the executive order. He stated that these officers were called to a visitor center outside CIA headquarters, where their identification badges were taken.

They were then presented with three options, each with a 5 p.m. deadline: retire by October 1, resign immediately, or face termination on May 20. Carroll indicated that officers who declined to choose one of these options would be automatically dismissed.

The CIA has not publicly responded to the case, and the agency’s rationale for the expected dismissals remains unclear. The government has yet to file a formal objection to the plaintiffs’ TRO request, although attorneys indicated during the February 18 court hearing that they plan to do so.

The Epoch Times has sought comments from the CIA regarding this matter.

Trump’s executive order, which is pivotal to this case, instructs all agencies to “terminate, to the maximum extent allowed by law, all DEI, DEIA, and ‘environmental justice’ offices and positions.” It is consistent with Trump’s campaign promise to remove considerations of race and sex from HR decisions in favor of a merit-based selection process.

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