Happy New Year 2025

Tag: leave

Ramzan 2025: Telangana Government Allows Muslim Employees To Leave Work at 4 PM From March 2 to 31 To Offer Prayers

The Telangana Government has issued a special order allowing all Muslim government employees, including teachers, contract workers, and staff from boards, corporations, and public sector organizations, to leave their workplaces early during the month of Ramzan. The decision permits these employees to leave offices, schools, and other government institutions at 4:00 PM from March 2nd to March 31st, 2025, to allow time for prayer during the holy month. However, the order specifies that this concession will not apply in cases where their presence is essential due to the exigencies of service. This move aims to provide Muslim employees with flexibility, enabling them to fulfil their religious obligations while ensuring the smooth functioning of government services. The Telangana Government has recognized the importance of supporting its employees during Ramzan, a period of fasting and prayer for the Muslim community. Ramzan 2025: Telangana Government To Allow Muslim Employees To Leave Offices Early During Holy Month From March 2 to 31.

Telangana Government Allows Muslim Employees To Leave Work at 4 PM

Telangana Government has issued an order permitting all Government Muslim Employees/Teachers/Contract /Out-sourcing/Boards/ Corporations & Public Sector Employees working in the State to leave their Offices/Schools at 4.00 pm during the Month of Ramzan from 2nd March to 31st… pic.twitter.com/bMXUpxPr3m

— ANI (@ANI) February 18, 2025

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February 18, 2025
Homeland Security puts CISA employees on administrative leave, reviews misinformation board

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed on Tuesday that some Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) employees who worked on “mis-, dis-, and malinformation” were put on administrative leave.

In a statement to Scripps News, DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin wrote CISA needs to “refocus on its mission,” starting with election security.

“The agency is undertaking an evaluation of how it has executed its election security mission with a particular focus on any work related to mis-, dis-, and malinformation,” according to the statement.

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas speaks to Senior Writer at Politico Magazine Ankush Khardori during Politico’s annual AI and Tech Summit on Sept. 17, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

SPEAKER JOHNSON RIPS ‘LACK OF LEADERSHIP’ IN BIDEN ADMIN’S HELENE RESPONSE: ‘ALARMED AND DISAPPOINTED’

As first reported by Fox News Digital, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testified in April 2022 that the Department of Homeland Security was creating a “Disinformation Governance Board” to combat misinformation ahead of the 2022 midterm election.

During an appearance before the House Appropriations Subcommittee, Mayorkas said a “Disinformation Governance Board” was created to address misinformation campaigns targeting minority communities.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

MAYORKAS RIPS ‘POLITICIZED’ ATMOSPHERE OVER FEMA DISASTER RESPONSE AMID GOP CRITICISM’

While the agency conducts the assessment, personnel who worked on the alleged “mis-, dis-, and malinformation,” as well as foreign influence operations and disinformation, will remain on administrative leave, according to the statement.

The board was allegedly led by Undersecretary for Policy Rob Silvers, co-chair with principal deputy general counsel Jennifer Gaskill.

Nina Jankowicz, who previously served as a disinformation fellow at the Wilson Center, reportedly served as executive director, Politico reported.

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Fox News Digital’s Bradford Betz contributed to this report.

Alexandra Koch is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital. Prior to joining Fox News, Alexandra covered breaking news, crime, religion, and the military in the southeast.

February 12, 2025
Judge blocks Trump from placing 2,200 USAID workers on leave

A federal judge on Friday ordered a temporary block on plans by the Trump administration to put 2,200 employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development on leave.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, also agreed to block an order that would have given just 30 days for the thousands of overseas USAID workers the administration wanted to place on abrupt administrative leave to move their families back to the U.S. at the government’s expense.

Both actions by the administration would have exposed the workers and their families to unnecessary risk and expense, according to the judge.

This comes as President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who leads the Department of Government Efficiency, seek to dismantle the agency.

TOP DEM STRATEGISTS WARN USAID FUNDING FIGHT IS A ‘TRAP’ FOR THE PARTY

Demonstrators and lawmakers rally against President Donald Trump and his ally Elon Musk as they disrupt the federal government, including dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Nichols noted that staffers living overseas have said the administration had cut some workers off from government emails and other communication systems required to reach the U.S. government in case of a health or safety emergency.

USAID contractors in various regions, including the Middle East, even reported that “panic button” apps had been removed from their phones or disabled when the administration abruptly placed them on leave.

“Administrative leave in Syria is not the same as administrative leave in Bethesda,” the judge said.

An employee of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) who wished to remain anonymous protests outside the USAID headquarters on February 3, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images)

The judge also pointed to workers stating difficulties that would arise from the 30-day timeline to return to the U.S., including that they had no home to return to in the U.S. after decades overseas and that they would be forced to pull children with special needs out of school in the middle of the school year.

Nichols ordered 500 USAID staffers who had already been placed on leave by the administration to be reinstated.

But the judge declined a request from two federal employee associations to grant a temporary block on an administration-imposed funding freeze that has shut down the agency and its work, pending more hearings on the workers’ lawsuit.

USAID STAFFERS STUNNED, ANGERED BY TRUMP ADMIN’S DOGE SHUTDOWN OF $40B AGENCY

The American flag flying alone beside an empty flagpole that previously had the flag of USAID is pictured in the reflection of a window that previously had the sign and the seal of USAID, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (AP)

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Nichols emphasized in the hearing earlier Friday that his order to pause the administration’s actions was not a decision on the employees’ request to block the administration’s efforts to quickly destroy the agency.

“CLOSE IT DOWN,” Trump said on Truth Social, referring to USAID, ahead of the judge’s ruling.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

February 8, 2025
Judge temporarily blocks 2,200 USAID workers from being placed on leave by midnight

A Trump-appointed judge said at an emergency hearing on Friday that he would put a temporary block on the administration’s plan to put 2,200 U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) employees on paid leave by midnight, Fox News has learned.

He also told a government lawyer that he’s not sure whether he would include the 500 employees already placed on leave in his order.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols sided with two federal employee associations – the American Foreign Service Association and the American Federation of Government Employees – who filed lawsuits over the order on Thursday.

Government officials “failed to acknowledge the catastrophic consequences of their actions, both as they pertain to American workers, the lives of millions around the world, and to US national interests,” the lawsuit says.

Demonstrators rally in support of USAID. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Nichols said that the plaintiffs had “established irreparable harm,” adding that “there’s zero harm to the government to pausing this for some short period of time.”

Nichols added that it would be a “very limited” temporary restraining order.

“CLOSE IT DOWN!” President Trump wrote on Truth Social earlier Friday of the U.S. agency that oversees international development.

An official with USAID told reporters on Friday that the agency had “ceased to exist,” with the majority of employees gone and funding stopped.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that the most crucial life-saving programs administrated by USAID overseas were given waivers to continue.

USAID was founded by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 and had more than 10,000 employees and a budget of about $40 billion a year.

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) headquarters in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images)

On Friday, the USAID website said that at midnight “all USAID direct hire personnel will be placed on administrative leave globally, with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs. Essential personnel expected to continue working will be informed by Agency leadership by Thursday, February 6, at 3:00pm (EST).”

Trump and Elon Musk, who runs the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency, have said they might move USAID’s surviving life-saving programs under the State Department.

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Rubio said the U.S. government will continue providing foreign aid, “but it is going to be foreign aid that makes sense and is aligned with our national interest.”

Democratic critics have said the move is illegal and needs Congressional approval.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

February 7, 2025
Israeli defense minister orders IDF to plan for Gazans to leave

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Defense Minister Israel Katz said Thursday he welcomes President Donald Trump’s proposal for large numbers of Palestinians to leave the Gaza Strip as he instructed the IDF to prepare a plan in line with the controversial plan.

Katz said Trump’s “bold plan” could “create extensive opportunities for those in Gaza who wish to leave.”

Trump’s plan initially stated that Gaza’s population would be “permanently” relocated while the United States rebuilds the territory, but U.S. officials later walked back those comments, saying the relocation would only be temporary.

TRUMP’S PROPOSED US TAKEOVER OF GAZA STRIP ELICITS POSITIVE RESPONSE ACROSS ADMINISTRATION

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz looks on, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Jerusalem, November 7, 2024. (REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun)

“The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too,” Trump said Tuesday evening in a joint press conference with Netanyahu. “We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous, unexplored bombs and other weapons on the site.”

“Level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings, level it out, create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area,” he said. “Do a real job. Do something different. Just can’t go back. If you go back, it’s going to end up the same way it has for 100 years.”

ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER LAUDS TRUMP’S LEADERSHIP WHEN ASKED IF BIDEN SHOULD TAKE CREDIT FOR CEASEFIRE

Israelis protestors set a fire as they block a road in Tel Aviv on November 5, 2024, after the dismissal of the defense minister, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the militant Hamas group. (JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Katz said he believes that the plan should include multiple exit options for any country willing to receive them.

“The plan will include exit options via land crossings, as well as special arrangements for departure by sea and air. Countries such as Spain, Ireland, Norway, and others, which have falsely accused Israel over its actions in Gaza, are legally obligated to allow Gazans to enter their territory. Their hypocrisy will be exposed if they refuse,” said Katz.

Displaced Palestinians return to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday. (AP/Abdel Kareem Hana)

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As of now, the plan has been rejected by the Palestinians as well as many in the international community who believe it is forcible displacement and violates international law. Rights groups said it would amount to forcible displacement in violation of international law.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

February 6, 2025
Jake and Logan Paul announce ‘the moment you’ve waited a decade for,’ but leave questions

Logan and Jake Paul will be streamed on HBO Max in two months — but it’s up for debate on what will actually be shown.

It appears the brothers teased a fight between the two of them that will take place on March 27, but such an announcement has yet to come.

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The brothers each posted a graphic that shows the two of them facing off. They both posted on X, “The moment you’ve waited a decade for… March 27th on @StreamHBOMax.”

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Jake Paul accompanied by his brother Logan, right, before his heavyweight bout with Mike Tyson at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, USA. (Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

However, there has been no official announcement on a fight from Jake’s boxing promotion, Most Valuable Promotions. In fact, in a joint Instagram post, MVP was left off as a collaborator, while the brothers and HBO Max were in on the joint post.

It should be noted that Jake’s men’s care line, W, posted a poll on its Instagram story, asking fans, “Who do you think is winning?” However, one of the answers, in typical Paul-trolling fashion, was “Mike Tyson.”

Fox News Digital reached out to MVP for clarification, but did not receive a response.

Logan, the older of the two, said over the summer that he had reached out to Netflix after Mike Tyson was hospitalized, saying he would be willing to fight his brother in order to keep the Paul-Tyson bout on its original date of July 20.

“We actually ran it up the chain at Netflix,” Logan said on his podcast while then-Republican nominee Donald Trump was his guest.

Jake wound up fighting on that date anyway, but against Mike Perry — the Tyson bout was postponed until Nov. 15, with Jake winning both bouts.

Jake Paul is congratulated by Logan Paul after knocking out Andre August in the first round at the Caribe Royale Orlando. (Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports)

The March 27 date does seem like an odd one to have a fight, considering that would be a Thursday. That date also marks MLB’s Opening Day, while it would be just three weeks out of WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas, where Logan, a WWE superstar, is very likely to be a part of.

Logan said on the aforementioned podcast that he and his brother have “never even sparred.” However, the two found each other in a highly-publicized tiff with one another in 2023, stemming from each of their energy drink brands.

Logan said on an August 2023 episode of his podcast that he had been threatened to be ejected from Jake’s fight against Nate Diaz at American Airlines Arena in Dallas earlier that month if he brought a PRIME bottle inside the venue. CELSIUS was the main sponsor for the fight.

The two shared harsh words for one another, but that led to a fanfare conspiracy theory that the two were simply just marketing a Paul vs. Paul boxing match.

Jake Paul (R) talks to his brother Logan Paul after his official weigh in at Desert Diamond Arena on October 28, 2022 in Glendale, Arizona. (Chris Coduto/Getty Images)

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Jake denied that to Fox News Digital roughly a month later, saying the beef was all real, but they managed to squash it all “in private.”

“Sometimes, brothers get into little bickering matches, and that’s just the name of the game. I think family goes through the bumps — there’s just 100 million people watching,” Jake quipped at the time.

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January 28, 2025
USAID workers put on leave as Trump officials investigate resistance to aid pause

Dozens of senior officials in the U.S. agency that administers foreign aid were reportedly placed on leave Monday amid an investigation into alleged resistance to President Donald Trump’s orders.

At least 56 U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) officials were placed on administrative leave with full pay and benefits, Politico first reported. Several hundred contractors based in Washington and elsewhere were also laid off, a current and a former official told the Associated Press.

These actions come after Secretary of State Marco Rubio, acting on Trump’s executive order, paused all U.S. foreign assistance funded by or through the State Department and USAID. The 90-day pause has halted thousands of U.S.-funded humanitarian, development and security programs worldwide and forced aid organizations to lay off hundreds of employees because they can’t make payroll.

RUBIO PAUSES FOREIGN AID FROM STATE DEPARTMENT AND USAID TO ENSURE IT PUTS ‘AMERICA FIRST’

USAID humanitarian aid destined for Venezuela is displayed for the media at a warehouse next to the Tienditas International Bridge on the outskirts of Cucuta, Colombia, Feb. 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara, File)

According to the Associated Press, an internal USAID notice sent late Monday said new acting administrator Jason Gray had identified “several actions within USAID that appear to be designed to circumvent the President’s Executive Orders and the mandate from the American people.”

“As a result, we have placed a number of USAID employees on administrative leave with full pay and benefits until further notice while we complete our analysis of these actions,” Gray wrote.

AFTER RAUCOUS FIRST WEEK IN OFFICE, DONALD TRUMP TO KEEP HIS FOOT ON THE GAS

President Trump signed dozens of executive orders upon taking office, including a 90-day pause on all U.S. foreign aid. Here, he is pictured signing pardons for all Jan. 6 rioters. (REUTERS/Carlos Barria)

The notice did not say which of the dozens of executive orders Trump has signed since taking office the USAID officials were accused of violating, according to the AP.

The White House and USAID did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION NEEDS MORE PLANES TO CARRY OUT DEPORTATIONS: REPORT

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has paused most foreign aid through the State Department in compliance with Trump’s order. (Oliver Contreras/Sipa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Those placed on leave were career officials who had served in multiple administrations, including Trump’s, the former USAID official told the AP.

Before those officials were removed from the job Monday, they were scrambling to help U.S.-funded aid organizations cope with the new funding freeze and seek waivers to continue life-saving activities, from getting clean water to war-displaced people in Sudan to continuing to monitor for bird flu globally, the former official said.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has specifically exempted only emergency food programs and military aid to Israel and Egypt from the freeze on foreign assistance.

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Trump has criticized foreign aid and called for a review of U.S. aid programs to determine which put American interests first and which should be eliminated.

The U.S. is the largest donor of aid globally. During fiscal year 2023, the U.S. dispersed $72 billion in assistance. It also provided 42% of all humanitarian aid tracked by the United Nations in 2024.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Chris Pandolfo is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital. Send tips to [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @ChrisCPandolfo.

January 28, 2025
VA places 60 DEI employees on leave, with salaries totalling more than $8M

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has placed nearly 60 employees on leave who focused on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and had a combined salary of more than $8 million.

The VA said in a press release Monday that it completed its implementation of President Donald Trump’s executive order to end DEI in the federal government.

Part of the VA’s abolishment of DEI within the agency meant placing on paid administrative leave about 60 employees who were solely focused on DEI activities.

The VA said the combined salary of the employees – including base pay, locality pay and additional earnings – exceeds $8 million, with the average pay being about $136,000 per year, per employee.

TRUMP’S FEDERAL DEI PURGE PUTS HUNDREDS ON LEAVE, NIXES $420M IN CONTRACTS

(Robert Alexander/Getty Images/File)

One of the employees had a salary of over $220,000 per year, according to the VA.

In addition to putting the employees on leave, the VA said it identified multiple contracts for DEI-related training, materials and other consulting services that are currently being looked at for cancellation. The combined value of the contracts, the VA said, is more than $6.1 million.

Over the coming weeks and months, the VA said it plans to work on reallocating resources to better support the veterans, families, caregivers and survivors who the agency exists to serve.

ATF ACCUSED OF ‘CIRCUMVENTING’ TRUMP ORDER TO PLACE DEI STAFF ON PAID LEAVE

Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives have been the subject of heated opinions of praise and rebuke. (Adobe Stock)

The VA is also taking down DEI-related materials from its digital assets.

“Under President Trump, VA is laser-focused on providing the best possible care and benefits to Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors,” said Morgan Ackley, the VA’s director of media affairs. “We are proud to have abandoned the divisive DEI policies of the past and pivot back to VA’s core mission. We look forward to reallocating the millions of dollars the department was spending on DEI programs and personnel to better serve the men and women who have bravely served our nation.”

The VA joins many other federal agencies that are executing Trump’s plan to end DEI initiatives.

3 IN 10 VOTERS THINK ENDING DEI PROGRAMS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, POLL SHOWS, AS FEDERAL DEADLINE LOOMS

President Donald Trump signed an executive order to end DEI initiatives at the federal level. (Evan Vucci/AP)

Trump’s newly created Department of Government Efficiency temporary organization, headed up by tech billionaire Elon Musk, wrote in a social media post on X that about $420 million in current and impending contracts, mainly focused on DEI initiatives, had been canceled.

On the day of his inauguration, Monday, Jan. 20, Trump signed the executive order, and the federal Office of Personnel Management notified heads of agencies and departments that they must begin taking steps to close all DEI offices by the end of the day on Wednesday, Jan. 22, and place government workers in those offices on paid leave. It is not yet clear when or if they will be terminated.

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Trump’s order rescinded President Joe Biden’s executive order on promoting diversity initiatives, “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government,” which he signed on his first day in office.

Fox News Digital’s Brie Stimson contributed to this report.

Greg Wehner is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital.

Story tips and ideas can be sent to [email protected] and on Twitter @GregWehner.

January 28, 2025
Trump’s federal DEI purge puts hundreds on leave, nixes $420M in contracts

FIRST ON FOX: President Donald Trump’s executive order terminating all federal diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs has already sidelined 395 government bureaucrats, a senior administration official told Fox News Digital.

Trump’s newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed up by Elon Musk, wrote on X Friday that approximately $420 million in current/impending contracts, mainly focused on DEI initiatives, had also been canceled.

After Trump signed the order on the day of his inauguration, the federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM) notified heads of agencies and departments that they must begin taking steps to close all DEI offices by the end of the day Wednesday, and place government workers in those offices on paid leave. It is not yet clear when or if they will be terminated.

ATF ACCUSED OF ‘CIRCUMVENTING’ TRUMP ORDER TO PLACE DEI STAFF ON PAID LEAVE

President Trump’s executive order terminating all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in the federal government has left 395 workers on paid leave, a senior administration official told Fox News Digital on Saturday. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Acting Director of the Office of Personnel Management Charles Ezell sent a memo to heads and acting heads of departments and agencies on Tuesday evening directing them that by the end of business on Jan. 22, they were to inform all agency employees of the DEI shutdown. In addition, they were instructed to tell workers directly involved in DEI they were being placed on paid leave immediately, take down all DEI-related websites and social media accounts, cancel any related contracts or training, and ask employees to report any efforts to disguise DEI programs by using coded or imprecise language.

The memo also directed the heads of agencies and departments that by noon on Jan. 23, they were to provide OPM with lists of all DEI offices, employees, and related contracts in effect as of Nov. 5, 2024.

By Friday, Jan. 24, at 5 p.m., agency heads were required to submit to OPM a written plan for executing a reduction-in-force action regarding DEI employees and a list of all contract descriptions or personnel position descriptions that were changed since Nov. 5, 2024, to obscure their connection to DEI programs.

After Trump signed the order on the day of his inauguration, the federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM) notified heads of agencies and departments that they must begin taking steps to close all DEI offices by the end of the day on Wednesday, and place government workers in those offices on paid leave. (Fox News Digital-Hannah Grossman)

3 IN 10 VOTERS THINK ENDING DEI PROGRAMS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, POLL SHOWS, AS FEDERAL DEADLINE LOOMS

The executive order was among dozens Trump signed on his first day in office, including the government only recognizing two genders and withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement.

He also issued two other executive actions on Tuesday targeting DEI – an executive order to end discrimination in the workplace and higher education through race and sex-based preferences under the guise of DEI and a memo to eliminate a Biden administration policy that prioritized DEI hiring at the Federal Aviation Administration.

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) said it had canceled around $420 million in DEI-related contracts this week. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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Trump’s Monday executive order rescinded President Joe Biden’s one on promoting diversity initiatives, “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government,” which he signed on his first day in office.

Fox News’ Brooke Singman and Landon Mion contributed to this report.

January 26, 2025
ATF accused of ‘circumventing’ Trump order to place DEI staff on paid leave

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has been accused of allegedly quietly changing the job title of its former diversity officer as President Donald Trump ordered all federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) employees be placed on paid leave.

“The ATF defied @realDonaldTrump’s order to place DEI workers on leave, instead giving their DEI officer a new title. They attack citizens’ rights, ignore leadership, and act as though they’re above the law. Enough is enough. Time to abolish the ATF!” Republican Missouri Rep. Eric Burlison posted to X.

The ATF, a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Justice’s umbrella, previously employed Lisa T. Boykin as its chief diversity officer before her title was changed on the ATF’s website this week to “senior executive” with the ATF. An archived link of the ATF’s website reviewed by Fox Digital shows Boykin was listed as the chief diversity officer as recently as Tuesday – Trump’s second day in the Oval Office – and now shows her as working as the agency’s “senior executive.”

Trump had railed against DEI programs and offices at the federal level, as well as in the education system, throughout his campaign. Upon taking office on Monday, he inked an executive order terminating ”illegal DEI and ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility’ (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government, under whatever name they appear.”

TRUMP REVOKES BIDEN ORDER ALLOWING TRANSGENDER TROOPS IN BID TO RID DEI FROM MILITARY

President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2025. (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

The following day, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) told agency and department leaders to begin shutting down DEI offices and to place DEI employees on paid leave.

TRUMP’S DISMANTLING OF DEI IS DEEPER AND BIGGER THAN YOU EVEN KNOW

Lisa T. Boykin’s official photo for ATF. (ATF)

“Send a notification to all employees of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) offices that they are being placed on paid administrative leave effective immediately as the agency takes steps to close/end all DEIA initiatives, offices and programs,” the OPM directive, which was obtained by Fox News Digital, read.

A biography for Boykin from 2023 detailed that she began working as ATF’s Human Resources Operations Division in 2016 and “as a collateral duty, in 2021, Mrs. Boykin also began serving as the Bureau’s Chief Diversity Officer,” the New York Post reported.

“With the Bureau’s continued focus on enhancing DEIA, Mrs. Boykin currently assumes the work of the CDO in a fulltime capacity, leading and implementing departmental programs and mandates, while bringing renewed vision and effective strategies to maintain an informed DEIA culture for the Bureau,” Boykin’s bio added.

WHITE HOUSE OPM ORDERS ALL DEI OFFICES TO BEGIN CLOSING BY END OF DAY WEDNESDAY

When asked about the title change and subsequent criticism on social media, an ATF spokesman responded that the agency has followed DEI directives from the Trump administration.

The ATF seal. (Photo by Ted Soqui/Corbis via Getty Images)

“ATF began implementing OPM’s Initial Guidance on DEIA immediately after its issuance on January 21, 2025, in response to the President’s Executive Orders. We have proactively taken the necessary steps to ensure compliance with this guidance, including by placing impacted personnel on administrative leave,” an ATF spokesman told Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital asked for clarification on whether Boykin’s new title protects her from administrative leave but did not immediately receive a reply.

Fox News Digital also reached out to Boykin on her ATF email and received an automatic response noting she was unavailable to reply.

“I am currently unavailable and unable to return e-mails at this time,” the email read.

Social media commenters and critics of the Biden administration’s diversity initiatives slammed the ATF employee’s title change on social media, clamming the agency is “circumventing” the Trump administration’s orders.

3 IN 10 VOTERS THINK ENDING DEI PROGRAMS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, POLL SHOWS, AS FEDERAL DEADLINE LOOMS

Biden championed diversity initiatives under his administration, rolling back the first Trump administration’s policies that banned diversity training in government agencies during his first week in office in 2021.

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“In the weeks ahead, I will be reaffirming the federal government’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and accessibility, building on the work we started in the Obama-Biden administration. That’s why I’m rescinding the previous administration’s harmful ban on diversity and sensitivity training,” Biden said in January of 2021. “Unity and healing must begin with understanding and truth, not ignorance and lies.”

January 24, 2025