The Trump administration has given agencies a 5 p.m. deadline Friday to turn off pronoun prompts on their emails and scrap websites that “promote gender ideology.”
Charles Ezell, acting director of the Office of Personnel Management, outlined the administration’s new prohibitions, involving emails as well as websites and social media accounts, in a Wednesday memo.
The missive also set a deadline of 5 p.m. EST on Friday for agencies to send an email to all employees announcing compliance with President Donald Trump’s executive order striking the inclusion of gender identity from federal agencies and programs.
The memo directed agencies to “take down all outward facing media (websites, social media accounts, etc.) that inculcate or promote gender ideology,” by that 5 p.m. deadline Friday. It also ordered agencies to review “email systems such as Outlook and turn off features that prompt users for their pronouns.”
Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff, reposted a comment on social media Friday afternoon that said, “All federal employees ordered to eliminate pronouns from all mail signatures by 5PM.”
But an OPM spokesperson clarified to E&E News: “The guidance is just to turn off the Outlook or Teams features that prompt users for pronouns.”
Although the OPM memo targets only automated portions of mail applications, employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention received specific directions to update their email signatures, according to an ABC News report.
“Pronouns and any other information not permitted in the policy must be removed from CDC/ATSDR employee signatures by 5.p.m. ET on Friday,” Jason Bonander, chief information officer for the CDC wrote in a Friday morning email obtained by ABC News. “Staff are being asked to alter signature blocks by 5.p.m. ET today (Friday, January 31, 2025) to follow the revised policy.”
ABC reported that the Transportation Department and Energy Department issued similar missives but did not quote the contents of those emails.
The OPM memorandum also included requirements to suspend employees involved in gender issues and to “review all agency programs, contracts, and grants, and terminate any that promote or inculcate gender ideology.”
Employees at several federal agencies said they were expecting additional guidance ahead of the 5 p.m. deadline. Those employees were granted anonymity to discuss internal agency communications.
One EPA employee said they had already noticed their pronouns had been removed from the email system. “It’s very chilling,” that person said.
EPA and the Energy Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment about their plans.
The Interior Department did not respond to an inquiry about its email signature policy, and the issue was not specifically addressed in a Jan. 30 memorandum signed by then acting Interior Secretary Walter Cruickshank.
“This Order is intended to halt all actions related to ‘illegal and immoral discrimination’ programs, including DEI, DEIA, and EJ (collectively, ‘equity-related’) mandates, policies, preferences, and activities in the Department,” the memorandum states, referring to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility; and Environmental Justice programs, respectively.
Elizabeth Peace, an Interior spokesperson, also sidestepped a question about whether the agency’s websites would remain live after the 5 p.m. deadline or if it would need to make any sites dark as it continues to remove “gender ideology” references.
“The Department of the Interior has expeditiously been complying with President Trump executive orders and will continue to do so,” Peace said.
