Federal Employees Must Report Their Colleagues Who Work In DEI Positions Or Risk Job Harm

Federal employees must report their colleagues who work in DEI positions or risk job harm

On Wednesday employees across the federal government received official email notices about potential discipline if they do not report DEIA staff colleagues overlooked by their supervisors.

The emails, which were obtained by NBC News, stated: The government knows employees try to hide their DEIA programs using unclear or misleading descriptions.

When employees find altered contract or personnel position documents from November 5 2024 onwards they must inform the Office of Personnel Management for review.

The message said employees would not suffer negative effects if they reported the needed details right away. Not taking action within ten days can result in negative outcomes for you.

Several departments and agencies started receiving the same email notice on Wednesday evening.

White House staff members did not respond quickly to questions about what penalties employees could face and how the order would be enforced.

On Tuesday the OPM sent all agency leaders a directive to send the required notice to their employees before 5pm Wednesday. Many department heads sent out the memo by using its built-in email template. The agencies and departments never clarified if they adjusted their communication when sending the DEI notification to staff.

The Trump administration also instructed agency heads to place federal employees in DEI roles on paid leave by the end of the workday Wednesday.

On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order aimed at ending DEI and accessibility "mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government, regardless of how they are labeled."

According to the OPM template letter distributed to agency heads, "These programs divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars, and resulted in shameful discrimination."

This move is part of a broader push by Trump against diversity initiatives, which began during his first days in office. On Monday, he signed another executive order declaring that the government would recognize only two genders, effectively rejecting the recognition of non-binary and gender non-conforming individuals.

This week, Trump also revoked an executive order that had prohibited discrimination by federal contractors and subcontractors. The longstanding order required "affirmative action" and prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin, according to a summary from the Department of Labor.