Right after Donald Trump took office as the President of the United States, he issued an executive order banning diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs within the federal government.
DEI is a controversial program that many call racist. The program’s goal was to increase the number of minorities in the federal government. It accomplishes this goal by replacing merit-based hiring and promotions with one that considers race over all other metrics. Many private companies embraced DEI, but a lot of companies dropped their programs because of damage to their bottom line.
Trump vowed to end the programs when campaigning for President and kept his promise when he signed his order to shutter the programs within the first few days of his new term as President. The order was clear: all government agencies were to stop using DEI practices immediately and place those in charge of these departments on administrative leave. The emails sent to all government agencies warned those in charge not to hide their DEI leads by changing their title.
Most agencies complied with the President’s order, but the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) decided to disobey the executive order.
Gun Owners of America (GOA) knew about the ATF’s history of disobeying orders and started monitoring the ATF’s homepage. Lisa T. Boykin was listed on the ATF’s website as it’s “Chief Diversity Officer.” Shortly after the President’s order was released, the Bureau changed Boykin’s title to “Senior Executive.” This action directly disobeyed the President’s executive order, which specifically said not to hide DEI employees.
BREAKING
ATF is circumventing President Trump’s executive orders to crush racist DEI programs.
To hide its DEI, @ATFHQ quietly changed Lisa T. Boykin’s job title from “Chief Diversity Officer” to “Senior Executive.” pic.twitter.com/WKFCWv5ftZ
— Gun Owners of America (@GunOwners) January 22, 2025
The ATF falls under the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). The DOJ is part of the executive branch. The head of the executive branch is the President.
Instead of the inferior part of the executive branch obeying the presidential order, ATF rebelled.
AmmoLand News reached out to the ATF multiple times to get Ms. Boykin’s employment status. Each time, the ATF refused to respond to our inquiries. This refusal of the ATF forced us to reach out to sources inside the Bureau.
Our sources have informed us that DEI hire, Ms. Lisa T. Boykin at ATF has been placed on administrative leave, meaning the ATF is finally complying with the executive order.
According to emails sent to the government agencies, anyone who knew about an agency trying to hide a DEI employee had ten days to report it, or they could face disciplinary action. AmmoLand News has no information about any disciplinary action against those who helped with the title change or didn’t report it.
Ms. Boykin worked for the Office of the Director. Deputy Director Marvin Richardson currently runs the Office of the Director. Mr. Richardson has faced scrutiny for pushing for the rule on pistol stabilizing devices and caused controversy when meeting with the Biden transition team in 2020 without the knowledge of the White House. In that meeting, the ATF listed its two most significant wants: the regulation of pistol braces and privately manufactured firearms (PMF).
Mr. Richardson has faced criticism for his actions within the ATF. Since Richardson and Boykin work together, many think Richardson knew about the title change, if not more. Some believe that the blatant disregard for the President’s order is another reason that Richardson needs to be replaced as the default head of the ATF as soon as possible.
In a FU to the Boss: ATF Skirts Trump’s Anti-DEI Order with a Sneaky Title Change
About John Crump
Mr. Crump is an NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people from all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons, follow him on X at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.
The ATFs action just proves why the entire agency needs defunded and disbanded permanently .
Administrative leave? No… Not good enough Trump. Whatever happened to… “You’re fired!”???
close the agency and all will be good
That fat lying unethical POS pig (along with every agent and secretary) should never be able to hold a position of honor in the U.S.A.
F’ her, her family and her dog!!!!
ABOLISH atf
Fire lt.
DEI is the equivalent of the former EOE (Equal Opportunity Employer) program. The EOE though wasn’t as blatant about giving “preference” to certain groups/classes/races.
BRANDON HERRERA!
I never once saw DEI be a factor in hiring. There’s a lot of hyperbole and not a lot of facts out there on both sides.