Trump to lay off federal DEI staff; sends them on leave

The United States President orders dismantling of the federal government's diversity and inclusion programs that could touch on everything from anti-bias training to funding for minority farmers and homeowners

Washington: President Donald Trump’s administration is directing that all federal diversity, equity and inclusion staff be put on paid leave, and that agencies develop plans to lay them off, according to a memo on Tuesday from the Office of Personnel Management.

The memo follows an executive order Trump signed on his first day ordering a sweeping dismantling of the federal government’s diversity and inclusion programs that could touch on everything from anti-bias training to funding for minority farmers and homeowners.

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The memo direct agencies to place DEI office staffers on paid leave by 5 pm on Wednesday and take down all public DEI-focused webpages by the same deadline. Several federal departments had removed the webpages even before the memorandum.

By Thursday, federal agencies are directed to compile a list of federal DEI offices and workers as of Election Day. By next Friday they are expected to develop a list to execute a “reduction-in-force action” against those federal workers.