WASHINGTON – Dozens of U.S. Department of Education officials were suddenly put on paid administrative leave Friday night, their union said, because of President Donald Trump’s executive order banning diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal government.
The employees worked in multiple offices across the agency and included civil rights attorneys, public relations and IT specialists, people who helped students defrauded by colleges and others, according to Brittany Holder, a spokesperson for the American Federation of Government Employees.
The staffers were explicitly told by the Education Department that the decision to place them on leave was “not being done for any disciplinary purpose” but was pursuant to the president’s DEI-related executive order, according to a memo obtained by USA TODAY. Their email access was also suspended.
The AFGE, a union which represents federal officials, estimated that at least 55 staffers received leave notices on Friday, but the group expects that number to climb.
The Education Department did not immediately comment on the matter Sunday.
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According to Holder, affected staffers said the decision appeared to be related to employees’ participation in a diversity training called the “Diversity Change Agent” program. That’s an instructional course that the agency previously described as an attempt to “foster an inclusive culture that respects individual talents, values differences, and allows our workforce to fully contribute to our organizational success.”
The program dates back many years. Internal emails provided by the union from March 2019 show Education Department officials being encouraged to get involved with the training during Trump’s first term.
The Education Department says it has already canceled millions of dollars in contracts related to DEI trainings and services and removed more than 200 webpages that previously housed DEI resources for schools and colleges. Informational resources for LGBTQ students, universities with the largest amounts of Hispanic students and tribal colleges have gone dark in recent weeks.
Read more:Trump axed support for tribal and Hispanic-serving colleges. They’re not happy about it.
Zachary Schermele is an education reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social.