President Donald Trump has directed all federal agencies to remove pronouns from employee email signatures. He also instructed departments to disable any email features that prompt or display pronouns, reinforcing his administration’s recognition that only two biological sexes exist.
Federal employees across several departments were directed to remove pronouns from their email signatures by 5 p.m. Eastern time on Friday.
The Office of Personnel Management, led by Acting Director Charles Ezell, sent a memo on Wednesday instructing each agency to disable “features that prompt users for their pronouns” in programs like Outlook and to eliminate existing pronoun references in staff email blocks.
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The memo was connected to Trump’s earlier executive order that recognizes only two biological sexes exist.
Employees in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Transportation received separate notices confirming the requirement, and the CDC’s chief information officer issued a statement reminding staff to comply by the deadline, according to the Daily Caller. At the DOT, workers reportedly received a similar directive one day before the cutoff.
Officials were also told to end any federally supported contracts, grants or programs that involve what the memo described as gender ideology. Agency heads were ordered to place employees working on such initiatives on paid administrative leave and to review all related materials.
Online resources, including social media pages, were also identified for potential removal if they “inculcate or promote” gender-focused practices.
The guidance mandated that every instance of the word “gender” in government documents be replaced with “sex,” ensuring that only male or female options appear on forms. The same rule extended to any mention of gender identity.
Trump had previously issued orders eliminating alternative classifications from federal documentation and halting certain diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) activities.
The administration directed officials to adjust hiring practices, remove men from women’s federal prisons and suspend DEI training programs.
Employees at some agencies noted that they had not encountered email signature restrictions before. One CDC staff member stated, “In my decade-plus years at CDC I’ve never been told what I can and can’t put in my email signature,” the Daily Caller reported.
Meanwhile, the National Review reported that the Defense Intelligence Agency halted scheduled observances of black history month and 10 other “special observances,” including so-called pride month and women’s history month.
National Review added that federal holidays won’t be impacted, thus Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth will be observed.
