How many federal DEI employees are there?

One of Donald Trump‘s first moves on re-entering the White House was to put federal employees who work in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) on administrative leave, with layoffs planned for the future. This came via an executive order signed on Trump’s first day in office, which aimed to fulfill a campaign promise of eliminating federal DEI programs.

Getting a clear employee count is impossible without the federal government giving the number because no centralized and easily accessible database tracks all DEI positions across federal agencies.

Per the executive order, by January 23, agencies had to submit a full list of all DEI offices and their staff to the Office of Personnel Management. A further deadline of Jan. 31, 2025, required detailed plans for layoffs. This tight schedule shows how the Trump administration is trying to quickly dismiss DEI workers, allowing little chance for comprehensive data collection or considerations specific to each agency.

How many DEI workers have been laid off?

The only concrete information about the layoffs comes from Veteran Affairs. The VA reported that 60 employees were placed on administrative leave. The employees made an average of $136,000 a year, and one employee made $220,000 a year.

Multiple departments under the Federal Government also had DEI employees, but without them publishing those numbers, there’s no way to tell how many. What is known is that all of those employees will have been put on administrative leave until they are laid off.

The executive order, dated Jan. 20, 2025, sought to close DEI offices and eliminate positions, including that of “Chief Diversity Officer.” That the order required departments to file a list of DEI employees indicates that the administration didn’t have a full, up-to-date count before issuing the order.

By Jan.22 at 5 p.m. EST, all DEI offices were to close, DEI employees were placed on paid administrative leave, and their email access was cut off. Based on what the VA reported, documents relating to DEI will likely going to be removed as well.

As the VA reports, “VA has identified several contracts for DEI-related trainings, materials and other consulting services, which the department is currently working to cancel. The combined value of these contracts totals more than $6.1 million.”

Other departments that are not speaking up about the process may not be as enthusiastic as the VA is about the removal. The VA seems to support the order, claiming that under President Trump, it is “laser-focused” and that the money saved will be used to “better support the Veterans, families, caregivers, and survivors the department exists to serve.” The report also stated the VA loos “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.”

Hopefully we’ll soon get some exact figures from other departments, giving us a clear idea of the scale of Trump’s layoffs.