Trump officials have ordered federal employees to turn over the names of colleagues whom they suspect of subverting the Republican administration’s effort to root out diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
“We are aware of efforts by some to disguise programs by using coded or imprecise language. If you are aware of a change in any contract description or personnel position description since 11/5/2024 to obscure the connection between the contract and or similar ideologies, please report all facts and circumstances to DEIAtruth@opm.gov within 10 days,” says the email, which federal employees shared with the Mississippi Free Press.
“I was shocked and chilled to my core,” one federal employee told the Mississippi Free Press on Friday.
President Donald Trump ordered all DEI staff in the federal government to be placed on leave earlier this week. DEI programs are designed to promote fair and equal treatment for all people regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sex or disability, but have become a target for Republicans to dismantle.
Trump’s effort to dismantle DEI programs includes the rollback of policies put in place under the Biden administration, including antiracist initiatives, efforts to curb discrimination against LGBTQ+ people in the federal government and efforts to promote equality for women.
Common Cause CEO and President Virginia Kase Solomón said that Trump’s anti-DEI order was an effort “to diminish and exterminate and incapacitate progress towards a multiracial democracy to maintain white supremacy and concentration of wealth,” the Associated Press reported on Wednesday. Common Cause is a nonpartisan watchdog group based in Washington, D.C.
The email, which federal employees received on Thursday, offers them a brief window to turn over information about coworkers they suspect of shielding anti-DEI programs.
“There will be no adverse consequences for timely reporting this information. However, failure to report this information within 10 days may result in adverse consequences,” the email says.
A Jan. 21 memo that U.S. Office of Personnel Management Acting Director Charles Ezell sent to the heads and acting heads of federal departments and agencies ordered them 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.”
That memo included a suggested template using the same language present in the emails the Mississippi Free Press reviewed.
“We are taking steps to close all agency DEIA offices and end all DEIA-related contracts in accordance with President Trump’s executive orders titled Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing and Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions. These programs divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars, and resulted in shameful discrimination,” the first paragraph of the email template says, without providing any examples of the alleged discrimination.
The Mississippi Free Press reached out to OPM to ask about the emails, but a spokesperson declined to comment.