The Trump administration directed federal employees at multiple agencies to remove their personal pronouns from email signatures by the end of business on Friday as part of its crackdown on diversity, equity, and inclusion practices within the federal government.
In a memo issued Wednesday, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management ordered the heads and acting heads of federal departments and agencies to “review agency email systems such as Outlook and turn off features that prompt users for their pronouns” no later than 5 p.m. Friday. Other steps, such as removing all websites or social media accounts that “inculcate or promote gender ideology,” are to be taken as well.
The directive is in line with President Donald Trump’s day-one executive order that formally recognizes biological sex and eliminates gender-identity ideology from the government. Trump echoed this distinction during his inaugural address, specifying there are only two genders: male and female.
The change is taking effect across all departments and agencies. But according to ABC News, employees in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of Energy received separate notices from their superiors informing them of the pronoun removal.
By next Friday, all department and agency leaders are required to report to the Office of Personnel Management on a “complete list of actions taken” in accordance with the administration’s guidance and whether they plan to comply with it.
Since taking office, Trump has used his executive authority to eliminate DEI programs established by the Biden administration. The president signed executive orders eliminating transgender accommodations and critical-race-theory training in the military and putting DEI staffers on leave.
In a a separate memo this week, the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency paused celebrations of Black History Month, which lasts through February, as well as ten other “special observances,” including Women’s History Month in March and Pride Month in June.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth won’t be affected by the pause because they are federal holidays. Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established in 1983, and Juneteenth was created by former President Joe Biden in 2021.
Race-based affinity groups and employee networking groups were also disbanded, per the memo.
In cracking down on DEI, Trump is trying to restore the federal government and American society at large to a merit-based system that doesn’t illegally discriminate against people based on race, sex, or other immutable characteristics. Intending to do the same in the private sector, he signed an executive order directing federal agencies to “encourage” companies to abandon their DEI programs.