On Tuesday (Jan. 21), CBS News revealed a memorandum from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) that ordered all diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) employees in the federal government to be placed on paid administrative leave. The instruction was in accordance with one of Donald Trump’s many executive orders, titled “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing and Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions.” The move effectively repealed Joe Biden’s 2021 presidential directive for diversity within the federal workforce.

Not long after the document was made public, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt validated the news on X, formerly known as Twitter. “To every reporter asking about this: I can gladly confirm!” she wrote regarding the order, which was considered “effective immediately.”

The memo also provided a template for agency heads to provide to affected employees. “We are taking steps to close all agency DEIA offices and end all DEIA-related contracts,” it read. “These programs divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars and resulted in shameful discrimination.”

The proposed notice also addressed possible attempts to avoid the sweeping removal. “We are aware of efforts by some in government to disguise these programs by using coded or imprecise language,” it stated before providing contact information for whistleblowers. “There will be no adverse consequences for timely reporting this information. However, failure to report this information within 10 days may result in adverse consequences,” it added.

During his inauguration speech on Monday (Jan. 20), Trump made his war on DEI policies very clear. “This week, I will also end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life,” he stated. “We will forge a society that is colorblind and merit based.” He also used the speech to declare another change, “As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female,” he expressed to livestream viewers and his constituents at the U.S. Capitol.