DEI is DOA NASA moves swiftly to end DEI programs, ask employees to report violations "Failure to report this information within 10 days may result in adverse consequences." Eric Berger Jan 22, 2025 6:04 pm | 148 Kennedy Space Center director Janet Petro, who is currently NASA's acting administrator, speaks in 2022. Credit: HUM Images/ Universal Images Group via Getty Images Kennedy Space Center director Janet Petro, who is currently NASA's acting administrator, speaks in 2022. Credit: HUM Images/ Universal Images Group via Getty Images Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreNASA's acting administrator is moving swiftly to remove diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibilityor DEIAprograms from the space agency.In an email sent to agency employees on Wednesday afternoon, acting administrator Janet Petro wrote, "We are taking steps to close all agency DEIA offices and end all DEIA-related contracts in accordance with President Trumps executive orders titled Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing and Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions."During his run for a second term as president, Trump campaigned on ending programs in the federal government that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. He signed executive orders to that effect shortly after his inauguration on Monday.Programs seen as divisiveThese programs had their roots in affirmative action but exploded in popularity half a decade ago amid Trump's first presidency and the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements. DEI programs and officers became commonplace in academia and major US corporations. However, even before the election of Trump, the DEI movement appeared to have crested. For example, last year the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ended the use of diversity statements for faculty hiring.In explaining NASA's position, Petro said of the agency's existing DEIA activities, "These programs divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars, and resulted in shameful discrimination."Petro's email is notable for its suggestion that some civil servants at NASA may have sought to shroud DEIA programs from the Trump administration since the presidential election in early November."We are aware of efforts by some in government to disguise these programs by using coded or imprecise language," she wrote. "If you are aware of a change in any contract description or personnel position description since November 5, 2024 to obscure the connection between the contract and DEIA or similar ideologies, please report all facts and circumstances."Petro's message includes an email address to report such activities and asks NASA employees to do so within 10 days."There will be no adverse consequences for timely reporting this information," Petro wrote. "However, failure to report this information within 10 days may result in adverse consequences."NIH and NSF affectedNASA is not the only federal agency where this is happening. Several other agencies received similarly worded messages from their acting directors on Wednesday.Due to the poor representation of minorities in science and engineering fields, both of the major federal funding agenciesthe National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundationhave programs designed to encourage participation by underrepresented communities. These include educational programs, funding to enable research done by undergraduates support for students in graduate school, all directed toward members of underrepresented groups. As of 5 pm ET, webpages for most of these programs are still available, though one entitled Broadening Participation in Training Programs at the NIH was no longer available.For the medical research community, however, the termination of these programs might be the least of its concerns. As of Tuesday, all external communication from agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services, which includes the NIH, Centers for Disease Control, and the Food and Drug Administration, were put on hold. This will include things like alerts regarding the spread of emerging diseases, such as the H5N1 bird flu thats currently widespread in agricultural animals.But today, it became clear that this policy extended well beyond external communications. One researcher said that an NIH workshop was canceled mid-presentation. Others have reported that all evaluations of grant proposals by the NIH are now on hold indefinitely. Should the hold last for any significant amount of time, it will have severe ripple effects, as arranging the peer review panels that evaluate grants involves complicated scheduling and travel, so the delays may persist for considerably longer.Eric BergerSenior Space EditorEric BergerSenior Space Editor Eric Berger is the senior space editor at Ars Technica, covering everything from astronomy to private space to NASA policy, and author of two books: Liftoff, about the rise of SpaceX; and Reentry, on the development of the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon. A certified meteorologist, Eric lives in Houston. 148 Comments