Federal workers placed on leave by Trump’s DEI orders are angry and fearful of what lies ahead

Many who work in the federal government knew that an incoming Trump administration would take aim at diversity, equity and inclusion jobs within their ranks. It was just a matter of when and how far he’d go. 

For most employees, it happened at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, when they got notices that they would be forced to take paid leave, according to a memo from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). The memo followed President Donald Trump’s executive order ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs in federal agencies.

“I’m mad,” said a federal employee placed on leave from the agency where he has worked for more than two decades. He requested anonymity out of fear of being unable to find future employment in the government.

“I’ve put 23 years of blood, sweat and tears into this agency,” he said.

In Monday’s inaugural address, Trump promised to put an end to “government policy trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life” and forge a society that is “color-blind” and “merit-based.” His executive order is a culmination of rhetoric and pledges by Trump and his advisers, as well as an extension of previous actions he took in his first term to erase diversity initiatives.

The OPM memo also set another deadline: Jan. 31, which is when federal agencies must submit a written plan to dismiss the employees put on paid leave. 

The employee who was put on leave after 23 years had been a DEI adviser for his agency for two years until December, when his office was decommissioned in anticipation of the Trump administration’s policies, he said. While he currently is receiving pay and benefits, he fears that if his job is eliminated he won’t be able to pay his bills, and the career he considers a “central part” of his life will be erased. 

“I was a little gay boy in the South. I felt displaced and different and othered and not comfortable in my home or in my skin for a lot of years,” he said. “I also grew up on the poorer side … It just made me want to use what privilege I have in order to improve areas for folks who don’t enjoy privilege in those areas.”

‘We’ve become pawns’

A woman of color who is also a federal worker placed on leave this week said she has been preparing well before Election Day to lose her job. She also requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation.

In June, the federal employee started buying her children clothing in larger sizes, anticipating she wouldn’t be able to afford new ones as they grew. Presents under the Christmas tree last month were scant, she said. 

“It’s hard,” she said. “You decide not to take your kids to Target so that they won’t ask you for a bunch of stuff that you won’t be able to afford, because you’re trying to plan for whatever happens.”

Despite her preparations, the woman said she was still surprised and upset by how quickly Trump’s order was implemented. When she received news of her leave, her superiors did not tell her why, she said.

“When you decide to become a civil employee, your goal is to really help the American people. And anyone who’s in this line of work knows that the goal is to always help all people,” she said. “It’s disheartening that we’ve become pawns in this grapple for control. But, again, this is what the American people voted for.” 

A man who leads an LGBTQ Employee Resource Group in a Cabinet-level agency, and who asked that his name not be used due to fear of retaliation, said that his group helped the agency create internal policy for employees who transition genders. The policies included protocol for how to change a trans employee’s internal records to accurately reflect their new gender identity and name. As of Wednesday evening, the once-public policy was no longer available on the agency’s website.

“So now an employee who’s going through a transition will have to figure out the entire process themselves — they’re creating the wheel over and over for each individual,” he said. “Without the policy, it essentially puts all of the burden on the employee to try to figure it out.”

The man added that since Trump’s re-election in November, many LGBTQ workers at the federal agency told him they plan on going back into the closet at work. He said many have said, “My plan is to be invisible for the next four years.”

The reverberations of the memo and executive order have extended throughout the federal government. The Wilson Center, a Washington think tank overseen by trustees appointed by the president, sent a letter to employees closing all diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility offices and related contracts. Citing the order, the letter said that the programs “divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars, and resulted in shameful discrimination.” 

Trump issued a separate order directing the Federal Aviation Administration to end DEI efforts. An accompanying fact sheet about Trump’s actions stated they had led to hiring of people with “severe intellectual” disabilities, psychiatric issues, and complete paralysis.” It further ordered performance reviews of all FAA employees.

Trump also rescinded a 1965 order signed by then President Lyndon Johnson prohibiting discrimination in hiring by federal contractors.  

Trump and his allies have labeled DEI programs as discriminatory.

“President Trump campaigned on ending the scourge of DEI from our federal government and returning America to a merit based society where people are hired based on their skills, not for the color of their skin. This is another win for Americans of all races, religions and creeds,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

Many of the civil rights and diversity laws and programs were implemented because, for decades, few people of color, people with disabilities and veterans held the tax-supported jobs. 

In 2023, white people still were the majority of federal workers at 59.5% and men outnumbered women 55% to 45%, according to an analysis of federal data by the Partnership for Public Service, a group that focuses on drawing talented people to the federal workforce and improving how government works. Seventy-four percent of senior executive level positions are held by white workers, while 26% are held by people of color, the analysis found.

In the U.S. today, 58.4% of the population is non-Hispanic white and 50.5% is female.

Ramiro Cavazos is president and CEO of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber, which has worked to increase the number of Hispanics and Latinos in political roles and the federal government.

Cavazos dismissed the orders as political messaging. He questioned whether Trump’s orders will have much staying power when they bump up against the realities of workforce demographics. Hispanics are the fastest-growing worker group, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“We are the only workforce that is out there,” he said. “At the end of the day, they know who the workforce is going to come from.” 

‘There is a lot of fear’

The repercussions of Trump’s executive orders were being felt even among workers not placed on paid leave.

“Right now there is a lot of fear,” said one federal worker who did not want to be named to protect the worker’s job. Some employees have stopped participating in messaging apps or email strings that connect workers of similar racial or ethnic backgrounds, the worker said.

“It feels like we are in Cuba,” said the worker, whose job was not eliminated but whose duties include providing access to resources to minority communities.

The worker said colleagues were concerned about using social media or their phones, even personal ones, for fear they are being monitored or tapped. 

A man who works in a federal agency, and who asked that his name not be published due to fears of retaliation, said a leadership training his team was assembling was scrapped in response to the new orders. The training was designed to teach managers how to handle working with multigenerational staff. 

“Everyone has to completely fall in line. There’s no real room for dissent,” he said. “It’s going to be a long couple of years.”

The OPM memo also instructed agency and department heads to provide lists of DEI offices in their divisions and its employees. An email was sent to all federal workers threatening “adverse consequences” if they fail to report colleagues whose DEI duties may have been obscured or disguised.

The more than two-decade federal employee who became a DEI adviser was moved to a civil rights office in December. At 5 p.m. on Wednesday, he was notified in an email that he’d be placed on leave with benefits immediately, that his email would be suspended and he’d get updates when they were available. 

He said DEI is being used “as a convenient scapegoat for more grievance politics.”

“The way in which DEIA is talked about and presented and used as some kind of boogeyman in conservative politics is absolutely incorrect on its face as to what DEIA means, what we do, how beneficial those programs are to, not just minority communities within the workforce, but to everyone,” the worker said. 

“DEI policies benefit everyone. A rising tide raises all boats,” he said.

Former President Joe Biden had promoted diversity, equity and inclusion during his administration and addressed it in executive orders. 

In a 2023 order, he required every government agency to create a DEI team and ordered an oversight committee to steer the DEI work. Trump has rescinded that and other orders.

Jesús Soriano, president of the American Federal Government Employees Local 3403 and a federal worker, noted that the federal workforce has a lower pay gap across genders, races and other groups compared to the private sector. “We are able to provide professional service to the government under an oath of office, regardless of what we look like,” he said.   

The government still has a lot of work to do to ensure the workforce represents the people it serves, he said.

“This is another way for President Trump to undermine the merit-based civil service and then turn hiring and firing decisions into loyalty tests,” Soriano said.

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