Diversity firings begin at top US intelligence agency, lawyer says

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Officials involved in diversity, equality, inclusion and accessibility programs at the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) have been ordered to resign or be fired, the lawyer for two of the officials said on Friday.

Attorney Kevin Carroll said he did not know how many other ODNI officials had received the directive beyond his clients.

Unlike the CIA, which issued a similar order last month to 51 officers temporarily assigned to diversity programs, ODNI was giving those who received one a chance to appeal to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, he said.

"Like their colleagues at CIA, they are being told that they cannot apply for other jobs; unlike CIA, they are being given a right to appeal to the DNI," said Carroll, a former undercover CIA officer.

An ODNI spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Nearly two weeks ago, a federal judge refused to halt the firings of the CIA officers terminated under U.S. President Donald Trump's January 20 executive order eliminating diversity, equality, inclusion and accessibility programs across the federal government.

The CIA this week terminated an unspecified number of recent hires in cuts that current and former U.S. intelligence officials warned would risk damaging U.S. national security, according three people familiar with the matter.

Those firings under Trump's new CIA director, John Ratcliffe, come as the Republican president presides over massive federal workforce reductions overseen by billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency.

(Reporting by Jonathan Landay; Editing by Chris Reese and Nia Williams)