The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) said in a memo that all federal DEI employees will be placed on leave as of Wednesday evening. The official move comes after President Trump signed executive orders upon his inauguration on Monday aiming to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs within the federal government. Mr. Trump said in his inauguration speech: “We will forge a society that is colorblind and merit-based.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the move in a post on X, citing a report from CBS News that read: “All federal employees in DEI roles have to be placed on paid leave by 5pm Wednesday as those offices and programs are being ordered shut down, according to@USOPM. Levitt shared the report along with the caption: “To every reporter asking about this: I can gladly confirm!”
The memo from OPM directs the heads of all U.S. agencies to place all federal employees in diversity, equity and inclusion roles on leave by 5 p.m. Eastern Time Wednesday. Agencies must also “take down all outward facing media (websites, social media accounts, etc.) of DEIA offices,” cancel upcoming DEI trainings and terminate contracts with DEI-related contractors by the same time Wednesday. The agencies must also submit “a written plan for executing a reduction-in-force action regarding the employees who work in a DEIA office,” by 5 p.m. ET on Friday, Jan. 31.
President Trump has said he will direct the Office of Management and Budget to end all related mandates, policies and programs across agencies, including all initiatives that aim to promote diversity, equity and inclusion within departments. Trump’s aim is to restore what the administration considers to be a merit-based hiring system, according to officials, who also stated that the orders cut funding for so-called DEI initiatives across all agencies in order to “end DEI inside the federal government.”
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