The Defense Intelligence Agency has ordered a pause of all activities and events related to Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Black History Month, Juneteenth, LGBTQ Pride Month, Holocaust Remembrance Day and other “special observances” to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order, according to a memo obtained by NBC News.
The memo listed 11 observances that are now banned. It also said that all affinity groups and “employee networking groups” are immediately on pause.
The directive comes as the Trump administration has made it a top priority to go after any programs perceived to be related to promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in the federal government.
The DIA did not immediately return a request for comment.
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Last week, the Justice Department sent a memo to staff announcing the closure of all of its DEI programs, saying, “These programs divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars, and resulted in shameful discrimination.”
On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order that outlined “the termination of all discriminatory programs, including illegal DEI and ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility’ (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government.”
A similar email went out from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services last week, notifying employees that all affinity groups, also known as employee resource groups, were “being disbanded and special observances are being canceled.”
Employee resource groups, which exist in both the public and private sectors, are voluntary, employee-led groups for people with similar backgrounds or life experiences. Common groups include ones for Native Americans, LGBTQ people, Black employees, women and veterans, among others.
Other agencies have also ended their ERGs, including DOJ Pride, the Justice Department’s LGBTQ employee resource group that has been around for 30 years.
Juneteenth was established as a federal holiday just four years ago, during the Biden administration. Also known as Emancipation Day, Black Independence Day and Jubilee Day, the holiday commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S.
It was the first federal holiday created since 1983, when Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established.
Andrea M. O’Neal, a former White House official who helped drive federal policies and observances behind Black History Month under President Joe Biden, said observances allow for full acknowledgement of American history.
O’Neal also said they help raise awareness about what communities are experiencing that may have a direct impact on how the federal government can help better serve them.
“This kind of rollback is demoralizing to communities who finally had a seat at the table [and] were finally acknowledged for their contributions,” O’Neal said.
“When presidents and governments decide who’s important [and] who’s not, that has downstream effects that we may not fully understand yet,” O’Neal said, adding that the changes implemented from the executive order will make people feel less comfortable at work and cause them to have lower morale, she added.
Troy Blackwell, who worked for the Department of Commerce in the Biden administration, said a big piece of DEI involves making policies and resources accessible for underserved communities.
In his final year working for the Department of Commerce, Blackwell and his team opened patent and trademark resource libraries at Hispanic-serving institutions and historically Black colleges and universities.
“I’m heartbroken to be honest,” Blackwell said. “It’s despicable what’s happening and I think it’s definitely a sign of government overreach.”
“We celebrate Black History Month knowing that there’s been a history of enslavement and Jim Crow and civil rights and what that has done to the fabric of the United States and the contributions of African Americans who have been overlooked for not decades, but centuries,” added Blackwell, who is Afro-Latino. “The literal White House that the president sits in and his team works in was built by slaves.”
Trump’s inauguration happened to fall on MLK Day this year.
In a speech following his swearing-in ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda, Trump acknowledged the historical significance of the holiday and spoke directly to the Black and Hispanic voters who cast a ballot for him last year.
“To the Black and Hispanic communities, I want to thank you for the tremendous outpouring of love and trust that you have shown me with your vote,” he said, adding: “Today is Martin Luther King Day. And his honor — this will be a great honor. But in his honor, we will strive together to make his dream a reality. We will make his dream come true.”
