DoD eliminated most DEI jobs well before Trump took office

While the Pentagon has aggressively pushed to eliminate all diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and positions following President Donald Trump’s executive orders, most DEI roles were eliminated well before the president took office.

In early 2024, the Government Accountability Office kicked off a review of the Defense Department’s DEI workforce in response to a mandate in the Senate report accompanying the fiscal 2024 defense policy bill. 

At the same time, the Defense Department was implementing a separate provision from the same law requiring it to reduce all DEI positions to GS-10 or below by summer 2025. The watchdog focused its review on how DoD was responding to that provision.

When the GAO began its audit, it identified 188 DEI-related positions across the department. In response to the 2024 defense policy bill, the watchdog found that the Pentagon eliminated 32 of those roles and restructured another 115 positions. It left the Pentagon with only 41 DEI roles — 25 held by military personnel and 16 by civilians.

“DoD retained those positions because they said the legislative provision that required them to reduce its workforce did not apply to those 41 and that was either because they were a GS-10 or below or their primary duties were not focused on DEI-related activities,” Cathleen Berrick, GAO’s managing director, told Federal News Network. 

The Pentagon ultimately disbanded the remaining 41 DEI positions that survived the cuts following Trump’s executive orders aimed at curbing DEI efforts across the federal government.

Federal law requires agencies to maintain offices that handle equal employment opportunity complaints. A key component of EEO compliance also includes providing regular training to employees and supervisors on anti-harassment policies, civil rights protections, and the complaint process. Berrick said of the 41 disbanded roles, many were reassigned to EEO roles, while others moved into training-related positions that were not explicitly tied to DEI.

“Just to give an example, there was a DEI training manager position that was modified to become a leadership, education and training advisor. There was really a variety, but we did see quite a few reassigned to the EEO type positions, and then a number of others assigned to training,” Berrick said.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, however, has recently begun to target Military Equal Opportunity (MEO) and Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) programs, ordering a department-wide review of their policies and processes.  The real title of the policy, Hegseth said, is “No More Walking On Eggshells.”

“Too often at the Defense Department, there are complaints made for certain reasons that can’t be verified that end people’s career. We need to reform that process completely so commanders can be commanders,” Hegseth said on social media platform X.

DEI-related contracts

As part of its review, the GAO also examined how the Defense Department used contractors to support the development and implementation of DEI activities across the department.

To identify relevant contracts, GAO relied on the Federal Procurement Data System, the government’s repository of all federal contracts. Berrick said they worked with GAO contracting experts and relied on interviews with DoD officials who oversaw DEI programs to develop a robust keyword search.

That search identified just 44 DEI-related contracts — most of them were related to DEI training. 

“We don’t know the exact status of all the 44 at the time we did our work. DoD did tell us that they weren’t going to exercise options on a number of those contracts. And we do know that after we followed up, after the new executive orders were issued in January, they were in the process of taking additional steps to stop all of their DEI activities to include contracts,” Berrick said.

While Hegseth’s recent contract terminations included consulting and IT services, most cost-cutting efforts have focused on eliminating DEI and climate change-related programs.

If you would like to contact this reporter about recent changes in the federal government, please email anastasia.obis@federalnewsnetwork.com or reach out on Signal at (301) 830-2747

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