Dozens of federal employees who didn’t work on diversity or inclusion issues have been placed on administrative leave following Trump's executive order.

Dozens of employees at the Education Department were placed on paid administrative leave Friday as part of the Trump administration’s larger effort to rid the federal workforce of employees associated with diversity,

Many underrepresented people who built successful government careers credited those laws and their enforcement with expanding the path to prosperity.

A purge of the Department of Education (DOE) may be underway, as the Trump administration put numerous employees on paid leave allegedly for attending a voluntary diversity training program. Prior to the 2024 presidential election,

Employees of diversity, equity and inclusion programs are to be placed on administrative leave by 5 p.m. Wednesday. Agencies were told to make plans for layoffs.

It's unclear how many workers were put on leave or for what reasons, said Sheria Smith, president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 252. The majority of employees placed on leave do not work in DEI initiatives and span all branches of the agency,