Federal workers across various agencies were instructed to remove pronouns from their email signatures by the end of the week, according to an online report Thursday. The directive follows two executive orders signed by President Donald Trump on his first day back in office, aiming to eliminate what the administration considers “woke” diversity and equity programs within the federal government. The memos reportedly told employees to adhere to the new policy by Friday afternoon, stressing 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.”
Sources cited by ABC News revealed that the directive applied to everything from government grant applications to email signatures across the department. On Thursday, employees at the Department of Energy received a similar notice, outlining that the directive was in compliance with Trump’s executive order. The order mandates the removal of DEI “language in Federal discourse, communications, and publications.”
The use of pronouns gained momentum as part of LGBTQ+ advocacy, especially with increased discussions around gender identity and non-binary recognition. Starting around 2015, organizations like the Human Rights Campaign and universities began encouraging pronoun disclosure. By the late 2010s, corporations, government agencies, and some political figures had adopted the practice.
However, the practice has faced opposition, particularly from those who see it as unnecessary or a form of ideological signaling. This latest move is part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to undo policies established during the Biden era. Similar actions are expected in the coming weeks as the president works to reshape government operations in line with his campaign promises.
Trump has also fired off a warning to federal workers who still have not returned to work in mostly vacant office buildings throughout Washington, D.C., that they must do so soon or be fired, while also suggesting that many of them may have violated federal rules and working for a private company while they were working their federal jobs from home.
“Just for clarification purposes, because it was incorrectly reported yesterday, we have informed the federal workforce, which they’ve looked to do for many years, that if they’re working for the federal government, they must show up to the office on time and on schedule,” Trump said on Wednesday during a signing ceremony for the Laken Riley Act, an immigration law named after a young University of Georgia student killed last year by a serial criminal illegal migrant from Venezuela.
