The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has issued a directive to all federal agencies and departments to commence the closure of their Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) offices by the close of business on Wednesday. This directive comes in the wake of President Trump’s executive order aimed at dismantling all DEI programs within the federal government.
Under the new guidelines, all employees working in DEIA offices will be placed on paid administrative leave immediately, as departments begin the process of shutting down these initiatives. According to Fox News, by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, heads of agencies are required to:
- Send an agency-wide notice to employees informing them of the closure and asking employees if they know of any efforts to disguise these programs by using coded or imprecise language
- Send a notification to all employees of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) offices that they are being placed on paid administrative leave effective immediately as the agency takes steps to close/end all DEIA initiatives, offices and programs.
- Take down all outward facing media (websites, social media accounts, etc.) of DEIA offices
- Withdraw any final or pending documents, directives, orders, materials and equity plans issued by the agency in response to the now-repealed Executive Order 14035, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce (June 25, 2021)
- Cancel any DEIA-related trainings and terminate any DEIA-related contractors
President Trump has also issued an executive order declaring the government’s policy to recognize only two genders: male and female, reflecting a broader pushback against diversity initiatives. (Read more: The Liberty Daily, 1/21/2025) (Archive)