WASHINGTON — The acting secretary for the Department of Veterans Affairs demanded that his staff report efforts to disguise diversity, equity and inclusion programs targeted for termination by the Trump administration, according to an email obtained by USA TODAY.
Acting Veterans Affairs secretary Todd Hunter’s email told his employees that he was “aware of efforts by some in government to disguise these programs by using coded or imprecise language.”
He directed employees with knowledge of efforts to change contracts or job descriptions pertaining to DEI efforts to report them within 10 days. Failing to report this information, he wrote, “may result in adverse consequences.”
Emails with nearly identical language were sent to employees at other agencies, including the Social Security Administration, according to versions USA TODAY has reviewed.
The effort at the veterans’ department follows President Donald Trump’s executive order to dismantle DEI programs across federal government.
One of Trump’s first official acts after taking office Monday was to shut down executive branch DEI offices and order those employees to be placed on leave.
More:Trump rolls back DEI across the federal government. Is your workplace next?
“These programs divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars, and resulted in shameful discrimination,” Hunter wrote in his email.
USA TODAY obtained the email from an employee on the condition of anonymity.
A request for comment to the department was not immediately returned.
Trump has nominated former Republican U.S. Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia as the VA secretary. Collins is a former Georgia congressman and a chaplain of the U.S. Air Force Reserve Command.
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