Some Federal Websites Go Offline Amid Compliance with Trump’s DEI Directive
Memo from the Office of Personnel Management Orders Removal of “Gender Ideology” References by Friday
Several federal government websites briefly went offline on Friday after agencies were instructed to comply with President Trump’s executive order on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). The order mandates the removal of references to "gender ideology," and as a result, certain government pages, including those for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Census Bureau, and the Justice Department, went blank before being restored later.
The directive, signed by President Trump earlier this week, specifies that only the genders male and female are to be officially recognized by the federal government. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a memo, obtained by NBC News, giving federal agencies until 5 p.m. on Friday to remove any references to "gender ideology."
While the White House did not provide immediate comment on the length of these website outages, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed that it temporarily took down its data portal to comply with the executive order. The CDC indicated that the data page would eventually be restored after the necessary adjustments were made.
A notice on the CDC’s data homepage explained the reason for the temporary shutdown, citing compliance with Executive Order 14168, which aims to "Defend Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restore Biological Truth to the Federal Government." The notice assured users that the website would resume operations once the necessary changes were made.
As part of the broader directive, numerous webpages across federal health agencies—including the CDC, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH)—were taken down. Pages related to HIV data, healthcare resources for transgender people, racial disparities, and information about the "Ending the HIV Epidemic" plan were among those removed.
Additionally, several pages from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which deals with foreign aid, disease prevention, and global health efforts, were also temporarily removed.
Federal employees are also working to comply with orders that restrict DEI initiatives within both the military and civilian government agencies. These directives include the elimination of resource groups and the discontinuation of cultural awareness celebrations.
One notable casualty of the order was the Health and Human Services website, ReproductiveRights.gov, which provided information on reproductive healthcare, including abortion services. The page was removed in line with the new executive directives.
The CDC was also in the process of removing content related to gender identity. Reports indicated that pages on HIV and contraception, including emergency contraception and the abortion pill, were affected. While some of this information remains accessible through detailed searches, users may find that these main landing pages have been temporarily deactivated.
In a December interview, Trump stated that while he may not restrict the availability of medication abortions during his second term, his administration is focused on removing what it considers “woke” views on sex and gender from federal programs and websites.