- US government and military websites went dark last week after being purged of certain content.
- President Trump’s executive order directed all agencies to remove information related to gender ideology.
- Here’s what’s disappeared from the websites and public-facing communications.
The Trump administration has been intensely scrubbing government and military websites clean.
It has been tossing out DEI, gender ideology, race, and sexual identity information, among other things. Thousands of pages have been affected, with some going dark and others being overhauled or revised. Some webpages went down and have already come back while others may be gone for good.
The sweeping webpage purge followed a string of executive orders on a range of issues that affected public-facing communications.
Last Friday, the US Office of Personnel Management directed all federal government agencies to review internal and external information and remove anything related to gender ideology. The guidance included taking “down all outward facing media (websites, social media accounts, etc.) that inculcate or promote gender ideology,” prompting many websites to briefly go dark while they were scrubbed.
Trump said he was fine with that outcome. “If they want to scrub the websites, that’s OK with me,” he said, triggering concern.
The order includes the removal of references to trans and queer terminology and replacement of “gender” with “sex.” The OPM memo also impacted the listed identities on department documentation, the jobs of employees “whose position description involves inculcating or promoting gender ideology,” and shutting off email features for users to input their pronouns.
Some systems, though, have remained untouched, and there remains uncertainty about how far the executive order and other related directives will go. The White House simply pointed to the order when asked for comment.
Military websites
Military websites have been cleared of terminology related to gender ideology. This includes any and all references to the LGBTQ+ community, which has now been cut to just LGB.
Other pages have also gone missing. For instance, the Army and Navy removed webpages showcasing the contributions of female service members this week. Some of the pages were apparently restored after inquiries about the scrubbing, Military.com reported.
Ret. Navy Adm. James Stavridis, the former top commander in Europe, said on X that the views of women in DoD today are a “big mistake” with long-term repercussions.
In a statement to Business Insider, DoD said it “will fully execute and implement all directives outlined in the Executive Orders issued by the President, ensuring that they are carried out with utmost professionalism, efficiency, and in alignment with national security objectives. We will provide status updates as we are able.”
The Army provided a similar statement on its online activities, and the Navy told BI its stance was in line with the Pentagon’s. The Marine Corps told BI that the Marine Corps Public Web had completed a “comprehensive review of public-facing content hosted across the Marines.mil enterprise.” The Coast Guard did not respond to BI’s request for comment.
Content such as official messages and publications were not removed, instead requiring only a cancellation or revision. Historical and news-related content and videos weren’t scrubbed either.
Questions remain on who’s been in charge of scrubbing the sites; the OPM memo appears to leave the task up to each individual agency. OPM also requested a complete list of actions taken by every department and any other plans to “fully comply with this guidance” by today.
The Pentagon also issued guidance last Friday from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth indicating identity months were “dead at DoD.” That included February’s Black History month.
That move comes amid new reports that transgender service members are already being affected in the wake of Trump’s executive order and that identity-based clubs at West Point are being shut down.
Right now, it’s unclear if DoD’s defense video and imagery distribution systems, known as DVIDS, will be updated. Defense Media Activity didn’t respond to BI’s request for comment.
As of now, it still includes previous imagery and graphics celebrating identity months like Pride Month. Just last week, the Air Force posted a graphic honoring Black History Month.
The State Department, CDC, and other sites
Other federal government websites, such as those for the Department of State, were also scrubbed in line with Trump’s executive order. This included the state department’s travel guidance and resources for LGBTQ+ people, which has also been stripped to just LGB.
Some unrelated content, such as country data on the State Department pages, has also disappeared. The USAID website has been cleared out as well.
The Center for Disease Control and Protection, as well as other health resources, saw similar purges, including a swath of website pages related to trans and nonbinary healthcare, sexually transmitted infections and diseases, HIV, and vaccinations. Data related to youth and LGBTQ+ mental health, substance abuse, and violence, as well as federal goals for curbing that, were also removed.
These moves sparked intense criticism. Lawmakers like Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts called them “staggeringly stupid, anti-science” actions that will have “real consequences.” Sen. Patty Murray of Washington likewise called these apparent purges “absolutely unacceptable.”
After intense backlash from healthcare providers and other concerned parties, some of this information was restored. However, some guidelines on contraception and information on racial inequities is still gone. The CDC’s website also still indicates it’s being modified to comply with Trump’s executive orders.
In a statement to BI, the CDC said: “All changes to the HHS website and HHS division websites are in accordance” with Trump’s executive orders on gender and DEI.
Numerous pages have also gone missing on websites for the Census Bureau, Department of Justice, US Patent and Trademark Office, Food and Drug Administration, Department of the Interior, Department of Veterans Affairs, and a number of others, clearing out a range of data, including some sexual harassment pages and climate change information.
Trump’s executive orders have already made an impact on government and military departments, but changes could continue as the guidance is implemented by various agencies.
The OPM memo also impacts any training and resource groups related to gender identity, “intimate spaces” such as bathrooms, and programs, contracts, and grants. These have had impacts on other programs as well, pausing them amid reviews.
