Trump’s anti-DEI efforts damage national security, former officials say

Trump’s anti-DEI efforts damage national security, former officials say
In the early years of the Cold War, the U.S. government embarked on a sweeping purge of federal employees deemed “security risks.” While the more widely known Red Scare targeted suspected communists, a concurrent yet lesser-known crackdown known as the Lavender Scare led to the mass dismissal of gay and lesbian federal workers, especially within the State Department.

Under the pretext that their sexual orientation made them susceptible to blackmail and disloyalty, thousands of government employees were investigated, fired or forced to resign. 



Seventy years later, echoes of the Lavender Scare are reverberating through the halls of federal agencies as the president and his allies work to undercut agency programs that focus on recruiting and retaining members of marginalized communities.



Under President Donald Trump, the actions to dismantle these various diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility efforts in the federal ecosystem are also casting a wide net into the nation’s intelligence community and Defense Department. The consequences of these actions are escalating into a multi-layered threat to national security, sources for this story argue, and comes at a time when foreign adversaries are ramping up espionage, data theft and cyber operations against the nation. It also comes amid public calls from Trump’s national security officials to boost its efforts to hamstring foreign adversaries.



In cybersecurity — a major area of concern among intelligence chiefs — diversity elements are essential, one former senior White House cybersecurity official said.



Cybersecurity requires addressing not only technical, but also human and cultural factors, the ex-cyber official said. By understanding how people’s behaviors and societal dynamics interact with technology, the U.S. can better identify risks and craft effective solutions, they added.



“If DEI-focused staff and programs don’t create pathways for people from rural communit ..

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