Some federal websites, public health data disappear to comply with Trump’s DEI directives

WASHINGTON - Public health data disappeared from websites, entire webpages disappeared and employees worked to remove pronouns from email signatures to comply with President Donald Trump’s directive on Friday. 

The sweeping changes and disruptions are tied to Trump’s order to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and transgender protections. 

U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters after signing an executive order, "Unleashing prosperity through deregulation," in the Oval Office on Jan. 31, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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Friday deadline

The Office of Personnel Management directed agency heads to strip "gender ideology" from websites, contracts and emails in a memo sent Wednesday, with changes ordered to be instituted by 5 p.m. Friday. 

It also directed agencies to disband employee resource groups, terminate grants and contracts related to the issue, and swap the term "gender" for "sex" on government forms. 

"All employees are required to remove any gender identifying pronouns from email signature blocks by 5:00 PM today," said the order from Tibor Nagy. "Your cooperation is essential as we navigate these changes together."

Websites are down

Dig deeper:

Much public health information was taken down from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's website: contraception guidance; a fact sheet about HIV and transgender people; lessons on building supportive school environments for transgender and nonbinary kids; details about National Transgender HIV Testing Day; a set of government surveys showing transgender students suffering higher rates of depression, drug use, bullying and other problems. 

Some pages appeared with the message: "The page you’re looking for was not found." 

A Bureau of Prisons web page originally titled "Inmate Gender" was relabeled "Inmate Sex" on Friday. A breakdown of transgender inmates in federal prisons was no longer included. 

At the State Department, all employees were ordered to remove gender-specific pronouns from their email signatures. The directive, from the acting head of the Bureau of Management, said this was required to comply with Trump’s executive orders and that the department was also removing all references to "gender ideology" from websites and internal documents.

Impacted websites

• National Parks Service
• The State Department
• U.S. Census Bureau 
• Bureau of Prisons
• CDC

Trump’s order

The backstory:

Trump's executive order, signed on his first day back in office, calls for the federal government to define sex as only male or female and for that to be reflected on official documents such as passports and policies such as federal prison assignments. 

Based on Trump’s executive order, the definition of what is male or female will be based on whether people are born with eggs or sperm, rather than on their chromosomes. 

The change is being pitched as a way to protect women from "gender extremism." 

Under the order, federal prisons and shelters for migrants and rape victims would be segregated by sex as defined by the order. And federal taxpayer money could not be used to fund "transition services." 

Medicaid in some states covers such treatments, but judges put on hold a Biden administration rule that would have extended that nationally. 

The order would also block requirements at government facilities and at workplaces that transgender people be referred to using the pronouns that align with their gender. Trump’s team says those requirements violate the First Amendment’s freedom of speech and religion. 

Trump also revoked protections for transgender military personnel that Biden had signed. There are an estimated 9,000 to 14,000 transgender troops.