Trump Orders Federal Employees To Remove Pronouns In Email Signatures

Federal workers across multiple agencies were given a directive to remove pronouns from their email signatures by the end of the week. The move follows two executive orders signed by President Donald Trump on his first day back in office, targeting what the administration deems “woke” diversity and equity programs within the federal government.

The memos reportedly instructed employees to comply with the new policy by Friday afternoon, emphasizing a return to professional and standardized workplace communications.

“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,” stated Jason Bonander, the CDC’s Chief Information Officer, in a message sent Friday morning. According to internal memos 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.”

According to sources cited by ABC News, this included everything from government grant applications to email signatures throughout the department. On Thursday, employees at the Department of Energy received a similar notice explaining that the directive was to comply with Trump’s executive order. The order mandates the removal of DEI “language in Federal discourse, communications and publications.”

On Thursday, the same day the Department of Transportation was handling the aftermath of the D.C. plane crash near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, federal employees received a directive to remove pronouns from various official documents. This came after all 67 passengers aboard the American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas, and an Army helicopter were killed in the collision on Wednesday night.

The pronoun shift gained traction as part of LGBTQ+ advocacy efforts, particularly with the rise of discussions around gender identity and non-binary recognition. Organizations like the Human Rights Campaign and universities began encouraging pronoun disclosure around 2015. By the late 2010s, corporations, government agencies, and even some political figures adopted the practice.

However, the practice has faced pushback, particularly from those who view it as unnecessary or a form of ideological signaling. The move is the latest in the Trump administration’s efforts to reverse policies enacted during the Biden era. Similar actions are expected in the coming weeks as the president continues to reshape government operations in accordance with his campaign promises.

Earlier this month, President Trump issued Executive Order 14168, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.” The order aims to reinforce the recognition of biological sex in federal policies.

It declares a policy of recognizing only two immutable biological sexes, male and female, and explicitly separates the concept of sex from gender identity. It instructs federal agencies to enforce laws and implement policies based on these definitions, restricts government-issued identifications and agency documents to display only the biological sex, and eliminates references to gender identity.

Furthermore, it rescinded previous executive orders promoting gender identity recognition and dissolved the White House Gender Policy Council. The order is set to influence various aspects of federal administration, including education, workplace rights, and prison policies.