Trump’s federal purge at DEI puts hundreds on furlough, cuts $420 million in contracts
FIRST ON FOX: Executive order by President Donald Trump repealing all federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) has already bypassed 395 government bureaucrats, a senior administration official told Fox News Digital.
Trumpthe newly established Department for Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed by Elon Muskwrote Friday X that approximately $420 million in current/upcoming contracts, mostly focused on DEI initiatives, were also canceled.
After Trump signed the order on his inauguration day, the federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM) notified agency and department heads that they must begin taking steps to close all DEI offices by the end of the day Wednesday and deploy government workers in those offices to paid leave. It is not yet clear when and if it will be discontinued.
ATF ACCUSED OF ‘BYCOVERING’ TRUMP’S ORDER TO PUT DEI PERSONNEL ON PAID LEAVE
President Trump’s executive order ending all diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs in the federal government has put 395 workers on paid leave, a senior administration official told Fox News Digital on Saturday. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Office of Personnel Management Acting Director Charles Ezell sent a memo to department and agency chiefs and acting heads Tuesday evening ordering them to notify all agency employees of the DEI closure by close of business on Jan. 22. In addition, they were directed to immediately tell workers directly involved with DEI that they have been placed on paid leave, to remove all DEI-related websites and social media accounts, cancel any related contracts or training, and ask employees to report all attempts at obfuscation are programmed by DEI using coded or imprecise language.
The memo also directed agency and department heads to provide OPM by noon on January 23 with lists of all DEI offices, employees and related contracts effective November 5, 2024.
By Friday, Jan. 24, at 5 p.m., agency heads were required to submit to OPM a written plan to implement the reduction in force with respect to DEI employees and a list of any contract descriptions or staff job descriptions that have changed since November 5, 2024, to cover up their connection to DEI programs.
After Trump signed the order on his inauguration day, the federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM) notified agency and department heads that they must begin taking steps to close all DEI offices by the end of the day Wednesday and place government workers in those offices on paid leave. (Fox News Digital-Hannah Grossman)
The executive order was among dozens of signatures by Trump on his first day in office, including only the government recognition of two genders and withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement.
He also issued two other executive actions targeting DEI on Tuesday — an executive order to end discrimination in the workplace and in higher education through race- and gender-based preferences under the guise of DEI and a memorandum to rescind the Biden administration’s policy that prioritized DEI hiring — i in the Federal Aviation Administration.
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) said this week it canceled about $420 million in DEI-related contracts. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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Trump’s executive order on Monday reversed President Joe Biden’s promoting diversity initiatives, “Advancing Racial Equity and Supporting Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government,” which he signed on his first day in office.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman and Landon Mion contributed to this report.
