The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) is hiring a former diversity officer on board as President Donald Trump orders all federal diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) employees to be placed on paid administrative leave. He is said to have quietly changed his job title.
“ATF ignored @realldonaldtrump’s order to place DEI workers on leave and instead gave new titles to DEI officers. They attacked civil rights, ignored leadership, and went above and beyond the law. Act as if you were ATF!” Republican Missouri. Rep. Eric Burleson posted on X.
ATF, a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Justice, previously hired Lisa T. Boykin as its chief diversity officer. An archive link on ATF's website reviewed by Fox Digital shows Boykin was listed as the top diversity officer for her second day in the Oval Office on Tuesday and currently works as a “senior executive” for the agency. It shows that
Throughout his campaign, Trump opposed DEI programs and offices at the federal level and in the education system. Upon taking office on Monday, he inscribed an executive order ending “unlawful DEI and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility” (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the federal government. . appear. “
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President Donald Trump signs an executive order at the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on January 20, 2025. (Photo by Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
The next day, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) directed agency and department leaders to begin closing DEI offices and placing DEI employees on paid leave.
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Official ATF photo of Lisa T. Boykin. (ATF)
“We are sending a notice to all employees in the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) to take steps to close/terminate all DEIA initiatives, offices, and programs.” Fox News Digital OPM directives retrieved by read.
Boykin's 2023 biography details that she began working as ATF's Human Resources Operations Director in 2016, adding, “As a collateral duty in 2021, Mrs. Boykin also began serving as the Bureau's Chief Diversity Officer. ” reported the New York Post.
“As the Department focuses on strengthening DEIA, Mrs. Boykin now assumes the CDO job in a full-time capacity, leading and implementing the Department's programs and mandates while providing the Department's informed Bringing an updated vision and effective strategies to sustain DEIA culture. Added Boykin's bio.
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When asked about the title change and subsequent social media criticism, an ATF spokesperson said the agency followed DEI directives from the Trump administration.
ATF seal. (Photo by Ted Thor/Corbis via Getty Images)
“ATF began implementing OPM’s initial guidance on DEIA in response to the President’s Executive Order shortly after publication on January 21, 2025. “An ATF spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital asked for clarification on whether Boykin's new title protects her from administrative leave but did not immediately receive a response.
Fox News Digital also contacted Boykin via ATF email and received an automated response noting that he could not respond.
“I am currently unavailable and cannot return emails at this time,” the email read.
Social media commenters and critics of the Biden administration's diversity initiative blasted the ATF employee title change on social media, saying the agency is “circumventing” the Trump administration's orders.
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Biden has championed diversity initiatives under his administration, rolling back an initial Trump administration policy that banned diversity training in government agencies in his first week of 2021.
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“In the coming weeks, I will reaffirm the federal government's commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, building on the work I started in the Obama administration. Reversing the Ban on Diversity and the Ban on Diversity and Diversity. Sensitivity Training said in January 2021, “Unification and healing must begin with understanding and truth, not ignorance and lies. ”
