Dozens Of Education Department Workers Are Put On Leave Over Trump's Anti-dei Order

Dozens of employees at the U.S. Education Department were put on paid administrative leave in response to President Donald Trump's order banning diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal government, according to a labor union that represents hundreds of workers in the agency.

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, she said, from an office that sends billions of dollars to K-12 schools to an investigative office that enforces civil rights laws.

The shakeup comes as Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency , or DOGE, pushes to cut programs and federal workers at departments across the government, including the U.S. Agency for International Development .

At least 55 Education Department workers received an email Friday saying they were being put on paid leave effective immediately pursuant to Trump's executive order. It wasn't being done for "any disciplinary purpose," according to a copy of the email obtained by The Associated Press.

Those placed on leave lost access to their government email accounts and were told not to go to the office. They include a range of staff members and managers across the department, which employs more than 4,000 workers in Washington and regional offices across the country.