Biden-era EPA staff schemed to cement DEI mandates days before Trump's inauguration, internal emails show
By willowt // 2025-07-11
Copy
 
  • EPA staff collaborated with consulting firm Gartner to insulate DEI programs amid Trump’s victory.
  • Over 1,200 DEI roles filled under Biden, costing $160M annually, as Biden allocated 700M to build agency DEI offices.
  • Trump administration axed $1B in DEI grants and closed offices linked to diversity initiatives.
  • Internal emails emphasized DEI as a “mindset,” revealing deep ideological integration in federal agencies.
  • Executive actions by Trump aim to replace “equity mandates” with merit-based policies under the Civil Rights Act.
As Donald Trump prepared to assume the presidency in January 2025 after a decisive election victory, internal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) documents reveal that Biden-era staff and consultants covertly sought to preserve and expand Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) programs. Newly obtained records from the Functional Government Initiative (FGI) expose a pattern of meetings between EPA bureaucrats and the consulting giant Gartner in the critical weeks after Trump’s November 2024 election, as federal employees scrambled to embed DEI agendas into agency policies. According to emails and briefing materials obtained by FGI, EPA staff, including the now-shuttered Office of Inclusive Excellence, worked with Gartner to draft DEI-centric strategies, personnel plans and compensation reforms. The agency’s actions, described as “an exercise in futility” by FGI’s director Roderick Law, highlight tensions between post-Biden bureaucrats and President Trump’s agenda to eliminate “divisive ideologies” from federal operations. The revelations come amid a broader debate over federal overreach and accountability, with critics alleging that unelected regulators are violating voter mandates by resisting policy shifts. “President Trump’s victory should have ended DEI’s grip on federal agencies,” Law told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Instead, these bureaucrats weaponized agency resources to entrench their radical worldview.”

Strategy sessions and secretive planning

The 2024 election results did little to deter Biden-era EPA workers from advancing DEI. Internal emails show EPA’s Tyvonia Ward, then director of the Office of Inclusive Excellence, corresponded with Gartner’s Bob Leavitt in December 2024 — weeks after Trump’s win. Ward shared prewritten DEI goals, including “pay equity” reforms, and strategized to “proactively lead through the transition with a focus on people.” One EPA staff member’s recurring email sign-off — “DEIA is not a task, it’s a mindset” — underscores the internal culture of prioritizing DEI as a primary mandate. The agency’s efforts, however, were short-lived. Newly appointed EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin promptly dissolved the Office of Inclusive Excellence, terminated over $1 billion in DEI grants and canceled DEI-focused offices, fulfilling Trump’s vow to combat “radical DEI preferencing.” “What’s most remarkable is that EPA staff pushed DEI hardlines even after a clear electoral repudiation of Biden’s agenda,” said an EPA spokesperson. “They clung to their ideological crusade long after their time had passed.”

DEI’s deepening roots in federal agencies

The Biden administration’s $700 million investment in centralized DEI offices within executive departments laid the groundwork for clashes over agency autonomy. While Biden framed DEI as a means to “achieve justice,” critics argue such initiatives erode merit-based principles. The White House’s January 2025 Executive Order, targeting DEI in federal hiring and contracting, directly responded to concerns about divisive policies. It revoked affirmative action mandates, banned federal contractors from balancing workforces based on non-merit factors, and emphasized the Civil Rights Act’s “colorblind” directive. Trump called DEI “a gateway to authoritarianism,” accusing corporations and institutions of promoting “prejudicial hostility” through diversity training and quotas. Federal employees like Ward, however, resisted these efforts. Their post-election maneuvers, according to FGI’s documents, aimed to embed DEI into agency structures permanently—a strategy FGI condemned as “ideological colonization” of public institutions.

The clash over government power and policy legitimacy

The EPA’s DEI saga reflects a deeper constitutional conflict: How much power should unelected bureaucrats wield to influence policy? Critics warn that agencies like the EPA now function as partisan hubs, defying voter will to advance agendas removed from their core missions. “This isn’t just about DEI — it’s about accountability,” argued Law. “When career employees engage in power plays after an election, they undermine trust in democratic governance.” Meanwhile, the $160 million annual DEI payroll established by Biden underlines the scale of federal commitment to such programs. Over 1,200 DEI roles — many created by Biden’s Day One executive orders—are now vulnerable to cuts, part of Trump’s “clean sweep” to dismantle “leftist” institutional frameworks.

Redrawing the boundaries of federal power

As the Trump administration accelerates rollbacks of DEI programs, the EPA’s last-minute efforts underscore the stakes of the federal bureaucracy’s role in policymaking. Whether through open defiance or covert planning, unelected employees increasingly treat agency roles as tickets to advance ideological causes—a trend many argue demands structural reforms. For now, the EPA’s transition appears resolved. Yet the broader battle over who dictates federal policy — elected leaders or entrenched careerists — show no signs of abating. Sources for this article include: YourNews.com DailyCallerNewsFoundation.org WhiteHouse.gov
Copy