More than 50 senior level employees with the U.S. Department of Education have been placed on paid administrative leave following President Donald Trump's effort to rid the federal workforce of employees associated with diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Sources say the Education Department sent letters to employees informing them that their e-mail accounts were being suspended, but ensured workers they would continue to receive their paychecks for an indefinite period. The union representing the workers impacted claims some of those effected have served the department for decades.
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It comes after President Trump, last month, signed an executive order that ultimately reversed multiple Biden administration-era executive orders that promoted DEI within the federal government. President Trump's orders also eliminated several executive orders signed by previous presidents, dating back to Lyndon B. Johnson.
The Trump administration claimed that the Biden administration "embedded deeply unpopular, inflationary, illegal, and radical practices within every agency and office of the federal government."
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"The injection of 'diversity, equity, and inclusion' (DEI) into our institutions has corrupted them by replacing hard work, merit, and equality with a divisive and dangerous preferential hierarchy," the Trump administration said in its executive order.
The Trump administration also rescinded a Biden administration order that required federal agencies to consider diversity and inclusion when choosing federal contractors.
"Billions of dollars are spent annually on DEI, but rather than reducing bias and promoting inclusion, DEI creates and then amplifies prejudicial hostility and exacerbates interpersonal conflict," the Trump administration said.
