President Donald Trump took another firm decision since kicking off his second term as the US president with a crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) workers.
The Trump administration is accelerating the effort to dismiss federal employees in (DEI) roles, forcing big cooperation and federal agencies to change their policies.
In a memo shared on Friday, the acting head of the US Office of Personnel Management informed government agencies that they "shall take action to terminate, to the maximum extent allowed by law, all DEI, DEIA, and 'environmental justice' offices and positions within sixty days," as reported by NBC.
The exact number of employees that would be affected by this decision has not been made public.
While many government employees have workplace protection, which could make termination efforts not as smooth as the Trump administration hoped.
Furthermore, the 47th US President has asked for federal agencies to provide a written plan by January 31 for the dismissal of workers at some point in the future.
In his inaugural address on Monday, January 20, President Trump shared his reasoning behind the crackdown on diversity initiatives, noting, "end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life."
The 78-year-old Republican also referred to DEI initiatives a discrimination against white men during his presidential campaign last year.
To follow Trump’s directives, government agencies are removing any mentions of diversity hiring from their websites.
Along with that Education Department on Thursday announced that it had dissolved DEI-focused councils, while DEI pages for State Department, Labour Department and Commerce Department were also taken down.
The National Gallery of Art, which receives federal funds, also shared on Friday, that it had closed an office dedicated to belonging and inclusion.
