⁍ The U.S. State Department has suspended all training programs for employees related to diversity and inclusion.
⁍ The move comes less than two weeks before the Nov. 3 U.S. presidential election.
⁍ President Donald Trump directed federal agencies last month to end programs deemed divisive by the White House.
– With less than two weeks to go before the US presidential election, the State Department has announced it’s “temporarily pausing” all training programs related to diversity and inclusion, Reuters reports. According to an internal cable obtained by the news agency, the State Department will “allow time for the Department and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to review program content” following President Trump’s Sept. 22 executive order banning the teaching of “divisive concepts,” including that the US is “fundamentally racist or sexist.” The cable says the Foreign Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, will collect training materials and submit them for review following Trump’s executive order. “As the senior Department official responsible for ensuring compliance with Executive Order 13950, I share the Department’s strong commitment to building an inclusive and diverse workforce to effectively deliver on our national security and foreign policy mission goals,” State Department undersecretary for management Brian Bulatao said in the cable.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-race-statedepartment-exclusive/exclusive-us-state-department-suspends-all-diversity-training-after-trumps-directive-idUSKBN2790JC