OMB Director Russell Vought issued a memo Monday on steps agencies must take to comply with an order on diversity training.

OMB Director Russell Vought issued a memo Monday on steps agencies must take to comply with an order on diversity training. Alex Brandon / AP

White House Threatens Discipline for Employees Engaging in ‘Divisive’ Training, Calls for Political Watchdogs

OMB issues new guidance to implement Trump's directives on diversity and inclusion training at federal agencies.

The White House on Monday outlined specific steps agencies must take to comply with directives instructing them to eliminate certain diversity training initiatives, and threatened to discipline federal workers who violate the orders. 

Agencies should take “immediate and substantive action” to implement President Trump’s executive order and White House guidance issued earlier this month to curb some diversity and inclusion efforts underway at federal agencies, Office of Management and Budget Russ Vought said in a memorandum Monday. A memo earlier this month barred agencies from holding training sessions on "critical race theory," an academic framework that studies how racism persists institutionally rather than as personal animus. Trump followed that up with an executive order extending the ban to contractors and the military, saying the government had engaged in initiatives that were “rooted in the pernicious and false belief that America is an irredeemably racist and sexist country.” Critics have flagged the directives, which come amid widespread social unrest over the recent high-profile police killings of Black Americans, as politically motivated and potentially unlawful. 

“The president and the administration believe the fair and equal treatment of individuals is an inviolable principle that must be maintained in the federal workplace,” Vought said in his new memo. The OMB director asserted that only through taking the actions Trump has laid out can agencies put that into practice. 

The Trump administration promised discipline for any employees who allow “divisive training” to continue. 

“Agency employees and contractors are not to engage in divisive training of federal workers,”  Vought wrote. “Noncompliance by continuing with prohibited training will result in consequences, which may include adverse action for federal employees who violate the order.”

The memo laid out specific phrases agencies should search for to identify trainings that may conflict with Trump’s directives, including "critical race theory," "white privilege," "intersectionality," "systemic racism," "positionality," "racial humility," and "unconscious bias." 

The ban includes both internal trainings and those conducted by outside vendors. It also applies to contractors and grant recipients, who must ensure their workforces are not engaging in any of the diversity and inclusion practices Trump has labeled as “divisive.” Any contractor in violation of the order risks being suspended or debarred from future federal awards. 

Vought instructed agencies to certify that any federal dollars grantees receive do not go toward training on “divisive concepts,” even if the grant dollars allow for other types of training. Grant recipients cannot conduct research on any of those concepts and must certify they will not use federal funds to even “promote those divisive” topics. 

Agencies must tap a senior political appointee to approve any spending on diversity and inclusion expenses, while all training programs must be reviewed by the Office of Personnel Management to check for possible violations. Agencies will have to report to OMB on their progress in identifying newly prohibited practices. 

Vought also told agencies to encourage their employees to report any violations of Trump’s orders to their inspector general. The director has taken to Twitter to highlight trainings that agencies have canceled after they were brought to light and set up an email account for individuals to report on any alleged violations. 

Trump has also touted his order, saying he banned efforts to “indoctrinate government employees.” 

“Americans should be taught to take pride in our great country,” Trump said, “and if you don’t, there’s nothing in it for you.” 

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.