According to an Office of Personnel Management (OPM) memo, federal agencies must start closing all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) offices by Wednesday and putting employees on paid leave. The directive calls for removing public-facing materials, discontinuing associated training, and dismantling DEI programs. By the end of the week, agencies must also submit lists of DEI employees and contracts, as well as their workforce reduction plans.

President Donald Trump’s executive order, which halted all federal DEI programs and repealed Biden-era policies that promoted DEI hiring and training, is the reason behind the memo.

Trump also signed additional orders prohibiting sex and race-based preferences in the workplace and in schools, and he ordered the federal government to recognize only two genders: male and female.According to Trump, these measures are intended to protect civil rights and stop what he described as “dangerous and demeaning” DEI practices. He claimed that these programs violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and undercut equality.