A memo sent out Wednesday said that there will be ‘adverse consequences’ for failing to report obfuscated programs.
The Trump administration on Wednesday sent memos that called on federal government employees to provide information about any agencies’ attempts to hide diversity programs, after he ordered government employees in offices administering such programs to be placed on paid leave.
The memo, which was sent to multiple federal agencies, said that some departments are trying to hide various “diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility” (DEIA) efforts.
“We are aware of efforts by some in government to disguise these programs by using coded or imprecise language,” the memo said. “There will be no adverse consequences for timely reporting this information.”
But it warned, “Failure to report this information within 10 days will result in adverse consequences.” The memo did not elaborate on penalties that would be doled out for potential violators.
The memo was sent to employees of several departments and attributed to different members of Trump’s cabinet. For example, it came from Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the State Department, Acting Attorney General James McHenry at the Department of Justice, Acting Secretary Bejamine Huffman at the Department of Homeland Security, and NASA chief Janet Petro.
A similar directive was issued by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) earlier this week, which said that by no later than 5 p.m. ET on Jan. 31, agency officials are to submit a “plan for executing a reduction-in-force action regarding the employees who work in a DEIA office.”
“Agencies should coordinate with OPM in preparing these plans,” it stated, adding that there should be “a list of all contract descriptions or personnel position descriptions that were changed since November 5, 2024 to obscure their connection to DEIA programs.”
The OPM directive also provided the very same email template that was sent out to federal employees on Wednesday.
“These programs divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars, and resulted in shameful discrimination,” the email template also said.
