Memorandum From the Acting Director, U.S. Office of Personnel Management on Initial Guidance Regarding President Trump's Executive Order "Defending Women"

TO: Heads and Acting Heads of Departments and Agencies

FROM: Charles Ezell, Acting Director, U.S. Office of Personnel Management

DATE: January 29, 2025

RE: Initial Guidance Regarding President Trump's Executive Order Defending Women

Pursuant to its authority under 5 U.S.C. § 1103(a)(1) and (a)(5), the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is providing the following initial guidance to agencies regarding the President's Executive Order entitled Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government (Defending Women).

Steps to End Federal Funding of Gender Ideology: In light of Defending Women, each agency should take prompt actions to end all agency programs that use taxpayer money to promote or reflect gender ideology as defined in Section 2(f) of Defending Women. Specifically, agency heads should take the following steps:

1. No later than 5:00 p.m. EST on Friday, January 31, 2025
   
   1. Send an email to all agency employees announcing that the agency will be complying with Defending Women and this guidance.
   2. Review all agency programs, contracts, and grants, and terminate any that promote or inculcate gender ideology.
   3. Review all agency position descriptions and send a notification to all employees whose position description involves inculcating or promoting gender ideology that they are being placed on paid administrative leave effective immediately as the agency takes steps to close/end all initiatives, offices, and programs that inculcate or promote gender ideology.
   4. Take down all outward facing media (websites, social media accounts, etc.) that inculcate or promote gender ideology.
   5. Review agency email systems such as Outlook and turn off features that prompt users for their pronouns.
   6. Withdraw any final or pending documents, directives, orders, regulations, materials, forms, communications, statements, and plans that inculcate or promote gender ideology.
   7. Cancel any trainings that inculcate or promote gender ideology or have done so in the past.
   8. Disband or cancel any employee resource groups or special emphasis programs that inculcate or promote gender ideology or have done so in the past.
   9. Review all agency forms that require entry of an individual's sex and ensure that all list male or female only, and not gender identity. Remove requests for "gender" and substitute requests for "sex."
   10. Ensure that all applicable agency policies and documents, including forms, use the term "sex" and not "gender."
   11. Ensure that intimate spaces designated for women, girls, or females (or for men, boys, or males) are designated by biological sex and not gender identity.
2. No later than 12:00 p.m. EST on Friday, February 7, 2025, report to OPM on all steps taken to implement this guidance, including:
   
   1. a complete list of actions taken in response to this guidance and Defending Women; and
   2. any agency plans to fully comply with this guidance and Defending Women.

   Please contact OPM at defendingwomen@opm.gov if you have any questions regarding this guidance. Please send any reports requested by this guidance to defendingwomen@opm.gov.

   cc: Chief Human Capital Officers (CHCOs), Deputy CHCOs, Human Resources Directors, and Chiefs of Staff