Trump Administration Instructs Federal Agencies to Begin Dismissing DEI Personnel
The Trump administration is hastening its efforts to dismantle DEI initiatives by instructing agencies to begin eliminating DEI roles and personnel.
The Trump administration has intensified its campaign to remove diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) from the federal government. A recent memo from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has directed all agencies to commence the immediate termination of DEI staff.
“In line with that order, each agency, department, or commission head is to take steps to terminate, to the fullest extent permitted by law, all DEI, DEIA, and ‘environmental justice’ offices and positions within sixty days,” Ezell stated in the memo.
The memo further indicates that agencies “can and should” begin issuing reduction-in-force (RIF) notices to employees in DEI offices right away. RIF notices are formal communications sent to employees whose positions are being eliminated, outlining details like effective dates and any rights or benefits they may have, such as severance pay.
Ezell’s memo marks a swift escalation in efforts to eliminate DEI roles across the federal landscape.
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The recent initiatives are part of the Trump administration’s broader strategy to eliminate DEI, a concept that Trump and many of his Republican followers have consistently criticized. In his executive order regarding DEI policies, Trump asserted that such initiatives constitute “shameful discrimination.”
“That stops today,” Trump declared in the executive order. “The American people deserve a government that treats everyone with equal dignity and respect while wisely using taxpayer resources to improve America.”
In addition to the Trump administration’s actions regarding DEI, numerous major U.S. companies have scaled back their DEI programs. Corporations such as Caterpillar, McDonald’s, Southwest Airlines, and Toyota have revised their DEI policies in recent months. Walmart announced in November that it would cease funding events targeting LGBT youth and end its participation in the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index.
Several Democratic lawmakers have stood up in defense of DEI policies.
