WASHINGTON – Federal employees received emails Wednesday warning that they could face repercussions if they do not report co-workers working in diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility positions that may have gone unnoticed by government supervisors.
“We are aware of efforts by some in the government to disguise these programs through the use of coded or imprecise language,” said the emails sent to government employees and obtained by NBC News.
Employees were ordered to notify the Office of Personnel Management if they were “aware of a change in any contract description or personnel position description since November 5, 2024 to obscure the connection between the contract and the DEIA or similar ideologies”.
“There will be no adverse consequences for timely reporting this information,” the email said. “However, failure to communicate this information within 10 days may have adverse consequences.”
Workers at several agencies and departments received emails in the same language since Wednesday night.
White House spokespeople did not immediately respond to questions about the nature of the “adverse consequences” or how the directive could be enforced.
We are waiting to hear from federal government workers. If you are willing to talk to us, please email us at tips@nbcuni.com either contact us through one of these methods.
The Office of Personnel Management issued a memo Tuesday directing department and agency heads to send the notice to employees by 5 p.m. Wednesday. The office provided an email template that several bosses used. It is unclear whether any department or agency heads altered or omitted DEI reporting language to their employees.
The Trump administration had also asked agency heads to place federal employees on DEI duties with paid leave before the end of the workday on Wednesday.
Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office Monday to shut down “DEI and accessibility mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government, under whatever name they appear.”
“These programs divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars, and resulted in shameful discrimination,” said the OPM template letter for agency heads to distribute to employees.
The move is the latest in a series of anti-diversity efforts Trump has already made. On Monday, he also signed an executive order that said American policy would “recognize two sexes, male and female.”
Also this week, Trump revoked an executive order aimed at prohibiting discrimination. by federal contractors and subcontractors. The decades-old order required “affirmative action and prohibits federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin,” according to a Labor Department summary.
