As revealed by ABC News, federal employees across multiple agencies were ordered to remove pronouns from their email signatures by Friday (Jan. 31) afternoon. The instruction followed executive orders signed by President Donald Trump on his first day in office, which — as stated in internal memos obtained by the publication — were part of a broader effort to scale back diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives within the government.
At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), staff were specifically told to implement these changes by close of business. “Pronouns and any other information not permitted in the policy must be removed from ... employee signatures by 5 p.m. ET on Friday (Jan. 31),” wrote Jason Bonander, the CDC’s chief information officer. “Staff are being asked to alter signature blocks by 5 p.m. ET ... to follow the revised policy.”
Similar directives were issued at the Department of Transportation (DOT) on Thursday (Jan. 30), the same day the agency was handling the aftermath of a deadly plane and helicopter collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Virginia. Employees were instructed to eliminate pronouns from official correspondence, including government grant applications and emails.
ABC News added that the Department of Energy (DOE) received a comparable notice that specifically referenced the removal of DEI-related terminology from federal communications and publications. It isn't clear what other agencies received similar guidance.
On his first day back in office, Trump signed two executive orders aimed at eliminating what his administration described as “radical and wasteful DEI programs,” and reinforcing “biological truth” in government policies. These orders were explicitly referenced in the aforementioned Friday memos. Further instructions provided steps for modifying email signatures, and a memo issued Wednesday (Jan. 29) by the Office of Personnel Management directed agencies to “review agency email systems such as Outlook and turn off features that prompt users for their pronouns.”