President Donald Trump should fire dozens of federal bureaucrats in health-related positions who have pushed diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) agendas, according to the conservative watchdog group American Accountability Foundation (AAF).
Trump signed an executive order on his first day back in office targeting “radical and wasteful government DEI programs and preferencing.” Bureaucrats who have touted DEI are still embedded in the federal government, according to AAF, and the Daily Caller News Foundation exclusively obtained examples from a list of 40 names the group will publish on its DEI Watchlist website Tuesday afternoon.
“Like all decent Americans, we believe that racial discrimination has no place in our society. Yet sadly in recent years a movement of far-left race-obsessed extremists have attempted to divide Americans based on skin color under the banner of DEI,” AAF President Tom Jones told the DCNF. “The DEIwatchlist.com aims to expose these racist extremists in our government so they may be held accountable.”
The watchdog’s DEI Watchlist prioritizes “exposing the unelected career staff driving radical Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives within the federal government,” its website states. “The real power often lies with behind-the-scenes bureaucrats who push divisive DEI agendas that undermine merit, fairness, and accountability. By uncovering these hidden influencers and their failures, we aim to restore integrity and common sense to our government.”
AAF uncovers the information for its DEI Watchlist by conducting detailed searches of publicly available content, it told the DCNF. The watchdog is also sharing the information with the Trump administration.
Among the newly added officials is a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official, who suggested she would still push DEI, regardless of the new Trump administration’s actions, on her now-deleted LinkedIn account, according to a screenshot taken by AAF on Jan. 28. In a lengthy post on Jan. 23, she wrote her “commitment to public health and Black women’s health” is “rooted in the fight for equity, dignity, and justice.”
“This work is about amplifying the voices of women historically silenced, tearing down systemic barriers to care, and ensuring every Black woman has the resources and opportunities to thrive,” she continued. “This is not a job—it’s a call to action to transform communities and dismantle inequities that threaten our collective well-being … I’m unfazed by the new administration and its bluffs and huffs.”
The official also called Trump a “twice impeached, convicted felon insurrectionist” and advocated against him being elected in a Nov. 1 Facebook post that is still on her profile as of Tuesday morning.
Another official added to the list is an official at the Basic Biobehavioral and Psychological Sciences Branch (BBPSB) at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). AAF argues that BBPSB’s mission, which prioritizes research that includes “underrepresented” and “underserved” populations, sounds like it could be calling for “diversity quotas and a racialized standard for cancer research.”
“Lived experience and social identity shape how knowledge is generated, interpreted, and translated for public health benefit,” the mission reads in part. “We have a scientific and ethical imperative to nurture and sustain a diverse pool of talented researchers engaged in biobehavioral and psychological science research that informs cancer prevention and control.”
The official also co-chaired a working group to promote “an inclusive and equitable community at NCI,” according to a presentation that AAF uncovered. The presentation calls for ensuring NCI’s culture is “reflective of the diversity of the U.S. population” and uses the term Latinx to describe Latinos.
“The use of the pseudo-phrase ‘Latinx’ illustrates a world view that is out of alignment with the Trump administration,” AAF asserts. “Further demographic quotas promote racial identity over scientific merit.”
AAF also called out another NCI official, who suggested on an October podcast that the institute’s Intramural Continuing Umbrella of Research Experiences program sought to increase diversity by “reducing some of the barriers for applying and getting into the NCI environment.”
“Cancer research is a very intense profession that should be reserved for the best and brightest regardless of race and gender,” AAF asserts.
Moreover, an NIH official posted on LinkedIn in 2024 that DEI is where he “found [his] purpose” and lamented that it is “under attack.” He vowed never to abandon DEI efforts, arguing that they are necessary for “a more equitable society.”
The official’s previous title on LinkedIn as of December was “Equity Diversity Inclusion & Accessibility Senior Program Manager/Governance” before updating it to a position that does not reference DEI, according to screenshots AAF took.
NIH, CDC and the officials who could be reached did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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