Take Down All DEIA Media

UNITED STATES OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT Washington, DC 20415 The Director MEMORANDUM TO: Heads and Acting Heads of Departments and Agencies FROM: Charles Ezell, Acting Director, U.S. Office of Personnel Management DATE: January 21, 2025 RE: Initial Guidance Regarding DEIA Executive Orders Pursuant to its authority under 5 U.S.C. § 1103(a)(1) and (a)(5), the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is providing the following initial guidance to agencies regarding the President’s executive orders titled Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing and Imposing of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions, which repeals Executive Order 14035, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce. Steps to Close Agency DEIA Offices: In light of the above Executive Orders, each agency should take prompt actions regarding the offices and agency sub-units focusing exclusively on DEIA initiatives and programs (the “DEIA offices”). Specifically, agency heads should take the following steps: 1. No later than 5:00 pm EST on Wednesday, January 22, 2025 a. Send an agency-wide notice to employees informing them of the closure and asking employees, if they know of any efforts to disguise these programs by using coded or imprecise language a template agency-wide notice is attached as Appendix 1. b. Send a notification to all employees of DEIA offices that they are being placed on paid administrative leave effective immediately as the agency takes steps to close and all DEIA initiatives, offices and programs.¹ A template employee letter is attached as Appendix 2. c. Take down all outward facing media (websites, social media accounts, etc.) of DEIA offices. ¹ The authority for placing these employees on paid administrative leave is set forth in the OPM memorandum entitled “Guidance on Probationary Periods, Administrative Leave and Details” issued January 20, 2025. OPM.GOV Empowering Excellence in Government through Great People USAJOBS.GOV

A screenshot of an official U.S. Office of Personnel Management memorandum dated January 21, 2025, ordering agencies to close DEIA offices and remove their websites and social media accounts. The red circle highlights the instruction to take down all outward-facing media, making the image useful as an absurdly formal reaction to deleting or shutting down an online presence. EN: A screenshot of an official U.S. Office of Personnel Management memorandum dated January 21, 2025, ordering agencies to close DEIA offices and remove their websites and social media accounts. The red circle highlights the instruction to take down all outward-facing media, making the image useful as an absurdly formal reaction to deleting or shutting down an online presence.

• @sbunem / 93457 2025-01-22