Trump administration orders closure of all DEI offices by end of Wednesday

In the coming hours, all federal staff at Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) offices will be placed on administrative leave after the Trump administration ordered the closure of all DEI offices and the planned firing of all staff from the controversial inclusive programs pushed by the Democratic administration of Joe Biden.

Late Tuesday night, the White House's federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM) notified agency and department heads that they must begin closing all DEI offices by the end of Wednesday. Federal workers in those offices were also ordered to be placed on paid leave while a plan for permanent layoffs is developed.

The acting director of the Office of Personnel Management, Charles Ezell, sent a memo to acting heads and directors of DEI departments and agencies ordering a series of provisions to dismantle the offices.

According to Fox News Digital, one of the notices was to notify employees across the agency of the closure of DEI offices and ask them if they knew of any efforts to disguise inclusion programs using coded or inaccurate language.

In addition to placing employees on paid leave, all outward-facing media from the DEI offices—that is, internet sites, social media accounts and other institutional communication with the public—was ordered to be removed.

Ezell also served notice that any training related to the DEI program be canceled and to terminate any contracts related to the inclusive program, which Republicans have criticized as affirmative action against people who are not necessarily racial minorities.

The Office of Personnel Management memo comes just a day after President Trump signed an executive order eliminating all federal DEI programs. He will also sign a separate provision stating that it is official U.S. government policy to recognize only two genders: male and female.