- Federal workers have been told to report DEI initiatives or face “adverse consequences.”
- Employees at NASA, DHS, and the Treasury received a memo with the warning.
- The new guidance comes after President Trump signed an executive order ending DEI initiatives.
Federal workers in multiple agencies have received a memo saying they should report any diversity, equity, and inclusion activities in their department amid a widespread purge of DEI initiatives.
Those who don’t may face “adverse consequences,” according to a template memo issued to federal agencies by the US Office of Personnel Management.
The OPM issued the new guidance on Tuesday, the day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled “Ending radical and wasteful government DEI programs and preferencing.”
The guidance included a template email to be sent from agency heads to all employees by 5p.m. Wednesday, saying that there are “efforts by some in government to disguise these programs by using coded or imprecise language.”
Employees should look out for changes in job descriptions that try to hide diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility — or DEIA — activities “or similar ideologies,” and report them within 10 days, it said.
The guidance told federal agencies to place all DEIA staff on immediate leave and to make a plan for ending all related programs.
The letter template added: “These programs divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars, and resulted in shameful discrimination.”
A version of the template on a NASA letterhead was shared by several people on social media. Business Insider was unable to independently verify it.
In a statement sent to BI, a NASA spokesperson said: “Our agency has complied with the requirements of the executive order and guidance from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management memorandum issued Jan. 21.”
They added that the agency sent a message to its workforce ahead of the deadline.
According to the BBC, versions of the email were also sent to employees at agencies including the Department of Health and Human Services and the Treasury Department.
The Treasury’s version, seen by the BBC, omitted the warning about “adverse consequences,” the outlet reported.
Trump’s executive order overturned efforts by the Biden administration aimed at advancing equity in the federal workforce.
While in office, President Joe Biden required all federal agencies to submit equity action plans.
As of Friday, pages on some federal agency websites detailing DEI initiatives or profiling former chief diversity officers had been taken down.
In other cases, it appears that roles have been reduced to exclude DEI activities.
One example: An archived version of the about page of Elizabeth P. Martin, deputy inspector general at the US Postal Service Office of Inspector General, lists her as the agency’s chief diversity officer. That title is now missing from her current page.
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