The reversal of diversity policies is part of Trump’s drive to “protect civil rights” and end what his administration has called “discriminatory initiatives.”

As the Trump administration aggressively seeks to “reduce the size of the federal government’s workforce through efficiency improvements and attrition,” as expressed in an executive order on Monday, workers in targeted positions worry their jobs are particularly at risk of being changed or eliminated.

President Trump reinstated a revised executive order from his first term that would make it easier for the White House to remove policy-facing federal employees — including Senior Executive Service employees.

Earlier hiring freezes actually made government services less efficient, the Government Accountability Office found.

The Defense Department is so far exempting all of its civilian positions from the freeze, according to multiple sources, allowing hiring for roughly 750,000 roles to continue. President Trump signed an executive order instituting the freeze on Monday shortly after his inauguration,

President Donald Trump has ordered federal workers to return to the office five days a week and weakened job protections for civil servants, the first salvoes in his campaign to gut the federal bureaucracy.

Trump promised stark changes for government workers. On his first day in office, he ordered federal employees to return to the office.

President Trump has directed that all federal diversity, equity and inclusion staff be put on paid leave and eventually laid off. This comes after promising to dismantle these programs which could touch on everything from anti-bias training to funding for minority farmers and homeowners.

Donald Trump said on Monday he will revoke nearly 80 executive actions of the administration of former Democratic President Joe Biden, with the Republican U.S. president adding he will also implement an immediate freeze on new regulations and hiring.