Trump Admin Unleashes Massive Cleanse On Diversity Initiatives

A recent development has shed light on the Trump administration’s efforts to scrub diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives from government websites. A review of 18F’s GitHub page reveals a frantic deletion and editing spree, targeting various documents, employee handbooks, Slack bots, and job listings.

18F, a General Services Administration agency founded under the Obama Administration, was designed to bring Silicon Valley talent into the federal government, aiming to improve digital services and make websites more user-friendly. Its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion has earned it a reputation as one of the “cooler” federal agencies. To achieve this goal, 18F has open-sourced many projects on GitHub.

However, with the shift in administration, these efforts are being rapidly dismantled. The commit logs for 18F’s GitHub page reveal a flurry of changes made in the first days of the Trump administration. These changes include editing and deleting text related to “inclusive behaviors,” “healthy conflict and constructive feedback,” “DEIA resources,” and “diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.” A webpage on psychological safety now 404s, while all information about DE&I leads has been erased. The word “inclusion” has also been removed from various documents.

The deletion of an internal Slack bot called “Inclusion Bot,” which aimed to passively listen for words or phrases with exclusionary histories and offer suggested alternatives, is particularly striking. Furthermore, information intended to improve accessibility for blind and visually impaired employees has vanished, including guidelines on using visual descriptions in Zoom meetings.

A hiring document review reveals that language related to equity and complexity has been altered, potentially undermining efforts to promote fairness in compensation for research participants. The Trump administration’s attempts to conceal these changes are evident, but making them visible on GitHub provides an unprecedented look at the process.

As the federal government continues to grapple with issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion, it is essential that public scrutiny is maintained to ensure accountability.