WASHINGTON, D.C. — Employees at multiple federal agencies were directed to remove pronouns from their email signatures by Friday afternoon, according to internal memos obtained by ABC News.
The directive cited two executive orders signed by President Donald Trump on his first day in office, aimed at curbing diversity and equity programs within the federal government.
A message sent to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) staff on Friday morning instructed employees to ensure pronouns and any other unauthorized information were removed from email signatures by 5 p.m. Eastern Time.
A similar directive was issued to employees at the Department of Transportation (DOT) on Thursday.
According to ABC News, the DOT order extended beyond email signatures, requiring the removal of pronouns from government grant applications and other department communications.
The directive came on the same day the department was managing the response to a plane crash near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C.
The Department of Energy also issued a similar notice on Thursday, stating the directive was necessary to comply with Trump’s executive order, which called for eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) language in federal communications and publications.
Spokespeople for the Department of Transportation, Department of Energy, Department of Health and Human Services, and the CDC did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
