Amid tensions over Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI), a "DEI Watch List" website created by the American Accountability Foundation has published the photos, names and public information of a number of government workers primarily within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Newsweek has reached out to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services via an email for comment.
Why It Matters
On his first day in office, President Donald Trump honored an election campaign promise to scrap federal DEI programs by signing an executive order titled "Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing." The following day, the administration sent a memo to department heads in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) offices directing them to inform employees that they are being placed on paid leave due to the closure of the office.
DEI policies have been the subject of national debate in recent years; however, Trump's move may intensify the trend as companies have rolled back such policies.
What To Know
In an email to Newsweek, the American Accountability Foundation confirmed the organization created a "DEI Watchlist" website.
While it's unclear when the website first appeared, it published photos, names and public information of a number of government workers primarily within the Department of Health and Human Services.
According to the website, a list of "offenses" for the workers include working on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives, donating to Democrats and using pronouns in their bios.
"We, like all decent Americans, believe that people should be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. Yet sadly there are radicals in our country who are trying to shatter that ideal and replace it with division, discrimination, and hate. We created DEIwatchlist.com to expose those who abuse their power and betray the trust placed in them by the American people to push now-discredited extreme left-wing racist ideologies," a spokesperson at the American Accountability Foundation told Newsweek via email on Wednesday.
According to NBC News, a government worker said the website is not only being circulated across social media but among multiple private group chats of federal health workers across agencies.
What is the American Accountability Foundation?
The American Accountability Foundation (AAF) is a conservative watchdog group. According to its website, it is "a non-profit government oversight and research organization that uses investigative tools to educate the public on issues related to personnel and policy."
According to the AAF, the team is comprised of researchers, analysts, and former legislative and campaign staffers that was initially founded in 2020 to oppose former President Joe Biden's administration.
Today, the AFF says it works to "keep vigilant watch of the DC Swamp in order to protect the interests of the American people and expose the left's efforts to obstruct, subvert, and sabotage the America First conservative agenda."
The AAF is led by Tom Jones, who the group describes as having two decades of "political, policy, research, and investigations experience serving in senior legislative and investigatory positions on Capitol Hill as a Senate staffer and as an opposition researcher for campaigns at the local, state-wide, and presidential level."
Jones served as the Legislative Director for Senator Ron Johnson, ran the opposition research program for Cruz for President, and previously served as a Senior Policy Advisor to Senator Jim DeMint.
Its other co-founder, Matthew Buckham, worked in the White House Presidential Personnel Office during the first Trump presidency.
In addition, AAF is a member of the advisory board of Project 2025, a collection of conservative and right-wing policy proposals from the Heritage Foundation.
This is not the first time the group has created a list focused on DEI. In December, it sent Pete Hegseth, then the nominee for defense secretary, a list of names of people in the military whom it deemed "excessively focused" on DEI stating that it is an "impediment to national security."
What People Are Saying
Dr. Georges Benjamin, the executive director of the American Public Health Association, told NBC News on Tuesday: "This is a scare tactic to try to intimidate people who are trying to do their work and do it admirably. It's clear racism."
Dorothy Brown, a Georgetown law professor who served on Biden's Inaugural Treasury Advisory Committee on Racial Equity, told the AP that Trump's order has far-reaching implications for workforce diversity.
"Conservatives would say it is wrong to target someone based on their race, but that is exactly what Trump is doing," she said
U.S. Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote in a note he shared on X last Sunday, "DoD ≠ DEI," adding, "No exceptions, name-changes, or delays. Those who do not comply will no longer work here."
What Happens Next
While it's unclear how long the website will stay up or if the American Accountability Foundation will continue to update the website, the debate over DEI is expected to intensify as the full impact of the Trump administration's anti-DEI actions is yet to be seen.
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