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NASA Told to to Scrub Mentions of Indigenous People, Women from Its Websites

"This is a drop everything and reprioritize your day request," a directive "per NASA HQ direction" stated.

NASA personnel were told to “drop everything” to scrub public sites of mentions of DEI, indigenous people, environmental justice, and women in leadership, according to a directive obtained by 404 Media. In an email to staf f after Trump’s DEI order, NASA acting administrator Janet Petro—the first woman to hold the position since its founding 67 years ago—wrote that diversity programs “divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars, and resulted in shameful discrimination,” and accused “some in government” of attempting to somehow sneak in diversity and inclusion efforts. When Petro took on the role to lead NASA, she wrote on LinkedIn that she would remain “steadfast in our commitment to NASA's mission and core values.” In 2021, when she was the director of Kennedy Space Center, she spoke at length in an interview about the value of diversity, saying “our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility has been paramount to mission success.” In that interview, she went on to reflect on how “committed” she was to making paths for women and minorities in her field: “Since the beginning of my professional journey, I have been in the minority of the organization I belonged to—whether it was flying helicopters in the Army or working as a mechanical engineer or program manager in a commercial aerospace company,” she said.

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