In a move strongly supported and advocated by Heritage Foundation scholars, the Trump administration has instructed all federal agencies to “cease and desist” from conducting taxpayer-funded employee training sessions on “critical race theory” and “white privilege.”

In a Sept. 4 memo, Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, a Heritage alumnus, ordered “all agencies … to begin identify[ing] all contracts or other agency spending related to any training on 'critical race theory,' 'white privilege,' or any other training or propaganda effort that teaches or suggests either (1) that the United States is an inherently racist or evil country or (2) that any race or ethnicity is inherently racist or evil," and they "should begin to identify all available avenues within the law to cancel any such contracts and/or to divert Federal dollars away from these un-American propaganda training sessions."

The days of taxpayer funded indoctrination trainings that sow division and racism are over. Under the direction of @POTUS we are directing agencies to halt critical race theory trainings immediately.https://t.co/dyMeJka9rt

— Russ Vought (@RussVought45) September 4, 2020

The concept of these taxpayer-funded “critical race theory” trainings entered the mainstream conversation after Heritage Foundation visiting fellow Chris Rufo released an exposé. Rufo revealed that Sandia National Labs, a nuclear research laboratory funded by taxpayers, held a three-day “reeducation” camp for white men.

Rufo’s investigation yielded an outpouring of other examples from whistleblowers who shared their own experiences in the federal government. Rufo is currently working on an investigative story for The Daily Signal, where he’s also written about homelessness. In addition to serving as a Heritage visiting fellow, Rufo is a research fellow at the Discovery Institute’s Center on Wealth, Poverty, & Morality and contributing editor at City Journal.

Rufo appeared on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on Sept. 1 to highlight the pervasive nature of the trainings in the federal government. Within days of his appearance, Vought issued the directive to all federal agencies instructing them to halt the sessions.

"It's absolutely astonishing how critical race theory has pervaded every institution in the federal government,” Rufo said. “Critical race theory has become, in essence, the default ideology of the federal bureaucracy and is now being weaponized against the American people."

“Critical race theory,” which has its roots in Marxist principles, claims that all problems in American society can be blamed on racism, and that white people are oppressors based only on the fact they are white. The theory is commonly taught at colleges, and more recently has been spreading to corporate America, public schools, and government offices.

Mike Gonzalez, senior fellow at Heritage’s Allison Center for Foreign Policy and the Angeles T. Arredondo E Pluribus Unum fellow, praised the Trump administration’s decision and Rufo’s impact.

“Rufo’s tireless crusade against these nefarious training sessions has done much to bring them to the attention of the Trump administration,” Gonzalez said. “These exercises have one goal: to completely transform America from what it has been since its founding, and into something it was never intended to be—a state divided into subnational identity groups whose members are filled with grievances so they can seek to change society top to bottom.”

President Donald Trump has also noticed Rufo’s work. Trump tweeted on Sept. 5 that the trainings would not happen on his watch.

Not any more! https://t.co/7Z2wxA6K13

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 5, 2020

Rufo’s work isn’t done. He joined “Tucker Carlson Tonight” again on Sept. 8 to share even more examples of taxpayer-funded trainings and he continues to receive information from government employees.

Meanwhile, Gonzalez said Americans must be vigilant about the threat posed by those who want to fundamentally transform our country.

“Critical theory is an unremitting attack on all the norms, traditions, and institutions of American society,” Gonzalez said. “It is now all the rage at universities, from critical legal theory in the law schools to critical race theory in the humanities departments, from gender studies to ethnic studies. From there, it has infected the rest of society.”