Federal workers ordered to remove pronouns from email signatures

Employees in the U.S. State Department, Department of Defense, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence were ordered “to remove gender identifying pronouns from email signature blocks by 5:00 PM" today, according to internal emails, reports CNN.

The directives reportedly said that the move was to align with President Donald Trump’s "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth" executive order. In the order which he signed off on within hours of taking office, he outlines that it is the U.S. government's policy "to recognize two sexes, male and female."

Another email CNN obtained from the State Department’s acting head of management said that the department "is reviewing all agency programs, contracts, and grants that inculcate gender ideology, and we are removing outward-facing media that does the same."

Another obtained email revealed that the Department of Health and Human Services was directed to identify all employment contracts that include the terms "he/she/they/them," "inclusivity," and variations of "nonbinary" by Friday so that they can be terminated.

DEI has become the latest buzzword and target of Trump's current presidency. Following the collision between a commercial flight and a Black Hawk military helicopter earlier this week, Trump suggested that DEI hiring could be one of the reasons for the crash that killed the 67 passengers aboard the two aircraft.

During a press briefing, Trump read aloud an alleged article from the Federal Aviation Administration's diversity push looking to hire "people with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities." When pressed how he reached the conclusion "that diversity had something to do with this crash," Trump replied:

"Because I have common sense, OK? Unfortunately, a lot of people don't."

No one has been named responsible for the crash. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) did not have a permanent head at the time of Wednesday's crash. Former FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker stepped down on January 20 — the day President Trump took office.