The Pentagon’s intelligence company has placed on hang observances of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Juneteenth, Holocaust Days of Remembrance and different annual historic or cultural occasions because of President Trump’s ban on variety, fairness and inclusion (DEI) methods around the federal govt, in step with a brand new interior memo.
The directions, despatched in a Protection Intelligence Company (DIA) memo dated Jan. 28, have an effect on 11 annual occasions.
“DIA will pause all activities and events related to Agency Special Emphasis Programs effective immediately and until further notice,” the memo stated. “Additionally, Special Observances hosted throughout the year … are also paused.”’
A number of the “special observances” halted are Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth, although the memo stated the pause would now not have an effect on the ones federal vacations.
Additionally incorporated within the pause are Black Historical past Month, Girls’s Historical past Month, Girls’s Equality Day, Holocaust Days of Remembrance, Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Satisfaction, Nationwide Hispanic Heritage Month, Nationwide American Indian Heritage Month and Nationwide Incapacity Employment Consciousness Month.
The file was once first reported via unbiased journalist Ken Klippenstein and posted to social platform X.
Requested concerning the pause, the DIA stated in a observation to The Hill that it’s running with the Protection Division “to fully implement all Executive Orders and Administration guidance in a timely manner. As we receive additional guidance, we will continue to update our internal guidance.”
When requested, Pentagon officers stated they aren’t acutely aware of a DOD-wide coverage relating to the problem.
White Space press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated Tuesday that the White Space nonetheless intends to have fun Black Historical past Month in addition to “American history and the contributions that all Americans, regardless of race, religion or creed, have made to our great country.”
Trump in a Jan. 20 govt order moved to finish DEI methods around the federal govt, with any other order signed Monday to “abolish” each DEI place of work throughout the Protection and Place of birth Safety departments.
However the White Space has now not given transparent steering as to how businesses may conform to the directives, an opening that resulted in a short lived uproar when the Air Drive quickly got rid of movies at the Tuskegee Airmen and the International Conflict II feminine pilots from its classes. After opposition from a number of GOP lawmakers, the provider stated it will proceed to show the historical past of each teams.
Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth, for his phase, on Wednesday directed personnel to create a job drive to advertise “merit-based, color-blind policies” all the way through the U.S. army and make sure no DEI methods survive.
As a part of that effort, race and intercourse might be struck from issues for army promotions, admissions to protection educational establishments and profession fields.
