WASHINGTON — Federal employees received emails Wednesday warning that they could face repercussions if they do not report on co-workers who work in diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility positions that might have gone unnoticed by government supervisors.
“We are aware of efforts by some in government to disguise these programs by using coded or imprecise language,” said emails sent to government employees and obtained by NBC News.
Employees were directed to notify the Office of Personnel Management if they are “aware of a change in any contract description or personnel position description since November 5, 2024 to obscure the connection between the contract and DEIA or similar ideologies.”
“There will be no adverse consequences for timely reporting this information,” the email said. “However, failure to report this information within 10 days may result in adverse consequences.”
Workers across multiple agencies and departments have received emails with the same language as of 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.
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The Office of Personnel Management issued a memo Tuesday directing the heads of departments and agencies to send the notice to employees by 5 p.m. on Wednesday. The office provided a template email that multiple heads used. It is unclear if any department or agency head altered or omitted the DEI reporting language to their employees.
The Trump administration had also called for agency heads to place federal employees in DEI roles on paid leave by the end of the workday Wednesday.
Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office Monday to shutter 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 made already. On Monday, he also signed an executive order saying that U.S. 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 had 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 summary by the Department of Labor.
