By Eireann Van Natta
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is potentially planning its largest firing of officers in almost 50 years, according to a New York Times report.
The agency is allegedly in the process of dismissing officers working on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) issues, former officials told the Times. It is unclear how many officers will be fired.
The CIA declined to comment.
President Trump issued an executive order on day one of his presidency targeting DEI in the federal government, blasting the programs as “illegal and immoral.”
The Times’s report cited a lawsuit filed by a lawyer, Kevin Carroll on behalf of officers put on administrative leave.
The lawsuit was filed against CIA Director John Ratcliffe, the CIA, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and DNI Tulsi Gabbard. (RELATED: New Orleans’ FBI Office, Police Department Are Chock-Full Of DEI Nonsense)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “DEI would’ve ruined our country — and now it’s DEAD.” pic.twitter.com/G9aGQPEbGv
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 31, 2025
The officers were placed on administrative leave because of their “temporary assignments to personnel functions” involving DEIA (diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility), according to legal documents.
The lawsuit indicated there could be more firings at the CIA, according to Carroll, the Times reported. Carroll represents 21 intelligence officers and said about 51 officers involved in DEI work were having their roles reviewed, according to the outlet.
The lawsuit claims that Trump’s executive order does not mandate firing officers “temporarily assigned to DEIA programs.”
The order directs each agency to “terminate, to the maximum extent allowed by law, all DEI, DEIA, and ‘environmental justice’ offices and positions,” according to the White House.
Former officials said the CIA started to call in officers on administrative leave and instruct them to resign or face termination — until a federal court blocked the agency from doing so, according to the Times. A judge based in the Eastern District of Virginia will hold a hearing on Monday over a potential temporary restraining order against the CIA, the outlet reported. (RELATED: Intel Agencies Begin Dismantling DEI In Response To Trump’s Order)
The federal government filed a brief in court Thursday arguing Congress vested the authority necessary in Gabbard and Ratcliffe to dismiss officers when they consider it “necessary or advisable” in the interest of the U.S., according to Reuters.
The lawsuit lauded diversity in the intelligence community, deeming it “a national security imperative.”
In her first week as DNI, Gabbard directed staff to slash all DEI programs and stop conferences that are not integral to the ODNI’s mission, Breitbart News first reported.
🚨In her first week @DNIGabbard identified about $20M a year in savings for taxpayers by ordering staff to cut all DEI programs in coordination with President Donald Trump’s EO ending DEI.
🚨She also directed staff to stop conferences that are not central to the ODNI Mission or…
— Alexa Henning (@DNIspox) February 21, 2025
The last mass CIA firing occurred in 1977 when then-Director Stansfield Turner fired 198 officers involved in clandestine services, the Times noted.
This is not the first action the CIA has reportedly taken to comply with Trump’s directive on DEI. The agency previously told the Caller that it has disbanded various DEI groups. (RELATED: FBI Hired Barely Literate Candidates, Urged Fat Applicant To Continue Process, Report Alleges)
The FBI and NSA have also taken steps to scrap DEI from their agencies.
The FBI told the Caller it had removed diversity from its list of “organizational Core Values.” The bureau also confirmed in January that it shut down its Office of Diversity and Inclusion in December 2024.
The NSA confirmed to the Caller in February that it was reviewing its website for DEI content.
