Federal employees are editing out any mention of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in government documents to avoid being axed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s budget purge.
They fear the new Department of Government Efficiency will target any woke language or policy speak as it launches the Trump administration’s avowed federal jobs cull.
Five sources from different government agencies told CNN that workers are changing the wording in performance reviews and job descriptions in an attempt to go under the radar.
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Since Trump’s election victory, any mention of DEI has been dropped to avoid unwanted scrutiny. According to the insiders, even words that could be associated with DEI policies—such as “equity” or “diversification”—are being stripped from government documents.
The word “policy” is also being removed from written job descriptions and reviews.
Staff are said to be concerned that artificial intelligence will be used to scout out buzzwords to alert the administration cost-cutters even if the context has nothing to do with progressive policies.
“People are definitely reimagining how to communicate what they’ve done and do to try and escape scrutiny,” admitted one federal employee.
There was concern that DOGE would use a “hatchet not a scalpel” in finding roles to lose.
“It’s in line with what lots of organizations and the private sector are doing, changing the words they use,” Jason Briefel, head of policy and legislative affairs at the Senior Executive Association, which represents senior federal staff, told CNN.
Musk and Ramaswamy are leading the outside initiative and say they plan to implement the incoming president’s plan to slash the federal workforce and cut the federal budget by at least $1 trillion.
