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The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has placed astir 60 employees connected permission who focused connected diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and had a combined wage of much than $8 million.
The VA said successful a property merchandise Monday that it completed its implementation of President Donald Trump’s enforcement bid to extremity DEI successful the national government.
Part of the VA’s abolishment of DEI wrong the agency meant placing connected paid administrative permission astir 60 employees who were solely focused connected DEI activities.
The VA said the combined wage of the employees – including basal pay, locality wage and further net – exceeds $8 million, with the mean wage being astir $136,000 per year, per employee.
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One of the employees had a wage of implicit $220,000 per year, according to the VA.
In summation to putting the employees connected leave, the VA said it identified aggregate contracts for DEI-related training, materials and different consulting services that are presently being looked astatine for cancellation. The combined worth of the contracts, the VA said, is much than $6.1 million.
Over the coming weeks and months, the VA said it plans to enactment connected reallocating resources to amended enactment the veterans, families, caregivers and survivors who the bureau exists to serve.
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The VA is besides taking down DEI-related materials from its integer assets.
"Under President Trump, VA is laser-focused connected providing the champion imaginable attraction and benefits to Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors," said Morgan Ackley, the VA's manager of media affairs. "We are arrogant to person abandoned the divisive DEI policies of the past and pivot backmost to VA’s halfway mission. We look guardant to reallocating the millions of dollars the section was spending connected DEI programs and unit to amended service the men and women who person bravely served our nation."
The VA joins galore different national agencies that are executing Trump’s program to extremity DEI initiatives.
Trump’s recently created Department of Government Efficiency impermanent organization, headed up by tech billionaire Elon Musk, wrote successful a societal media station connected X that astir $420 cardinal successful existent and impending contracts, chiefly focused connected DEI initiatives, had been canceled.
On the time of his inauguration, Monday, Jan. 20, Trump signed the enforcement order, and the national Office of Personnel Management notified heads of agencies and departments that they indispensable statesman taking steps to adjacent each DEI offices by the extremity of the time connected Wednesday, Jan. 22, and spot authorities workers successful those offices connected paid leave. It is not yet wide erstwhile oregon if they volition beryllium terminated.
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Trump’s bid rescinded President Joe Biden’s enforcement bid connected promoting diverseness initiatives, "Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government," which helium signed connected his archetypal time successful office.
Fox News Digital’s Brie Stimson contributed to this report.
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