Livermore director says office closed due to executive order ending DEI

Kim Budil, director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, said Wednesday the lab closed an office due to President Donald Trump’s executive order ending “diversity, equity, and inclusion” programs in the federal government.

“We did have an office that we closed,” Budil said at a hearing by the House Science, Space and Technology subcommittee on Energy. The session featured testimony from Budil and the directors from Idaho National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois.

Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Texas) asked at the hearing how each of the labs were affected by the executive order. Budil continued that the office that closed consisted of “a small team of people” that “spent most of their time really working on workforce engagement,” but did not elaborate on the name of the office. 

“We have restructured our program and directed them to other activities,” Budil added, not saying whether any of the workers lost their jobs. “So that’s the main impact for us.”

Thom Mason, director of Los Alamos National Laboratory, also said that while his lab has made changes “in our organizational structure consistent with the contract guidance that we received,” Los Alamos was able to “accommodate the affected employees” and move them to different positions in Human Resources.

Mason said while Los Alamos is complying with the executive order, he maintains the lab is committed to an environment ”free from discrimination” and “respectful to everyone and the contributions that they bring.”

“I’ll just say that the critical importance of bringing together a broad range of ideas, of background, of experiences is really how we drive excellence in our laboratories,” Budil also said. “So we’re very strongly focused on continuing that, focused on excellence.”

On the second day of the Trump administration, the president issued an executive order entitled, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity.” 

The executive order called for an immediate end to the “ illegal and immoral discrimination programs, going by the name ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion.” 

Trump also ordered agencies “to excise references” to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility principles, from federal acquisition, contracting, grants, and financial assistance practices.

The executive order gives federal contractors a 90-day grace period to stop complying with President Lyndon Johnson-era programs, such as the 1964 Civil Rights Act and affirmative action, in order to continue to be eligible for federal contracts.