A second employee took the same training: a “diversity change agent” training course. The second employee said that they were initially encouraged to take the course under Trump-era Secretary Betsy Devos. So many people wanted to take the class that it wasn’t until the following year, they said, until there was an opening.

Dozens of employees who attended a diversity training course encouraged by former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos during President Donald Trump’s first term have been placed on paid leave, a union official told NBC News.

Employees who received the memo were surprised by the action as the “Diversity Change Agent Program” was once encouraged during Trump's first term.

Federal employees at the Education Department could be placed on administrative leave for previously attending a diversity training. Several employees began receiving leave notices late Friday and reported them to their local union president at the American Federation of Government Employees,

Dozens of Education Department employees who attended diversity training during President Donald Trump’s first term have been placed on paid leave under a new order targeting DEI programs, according to union official Sheria Smith.