NASA dismisses Indian-origin DEI chief Neela Rajendra after Trump’s executive order

NASA has fired Neela Rajendra, the Indian-origin Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Chief at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), following an executive order from former President Donald Trump. The executive order, issued in 2020, aimed to eliminate diversity training and DEI programs within federal agencies. Rajendra’s firing is part of NASA’s larger effort to comply with this order.

Before her dismissal, Rajendra had been leading the DEI initiatives at JPL, working to improve diversity and inclusion within the organization. However, after Trump’s executive order, NASA took steps to scale back or eliminate DEI programs. Rajendra was reassigned to a new role that was supposed to oversee employee success and team excellence. This new job seemed to carry similar duties to her previous role, including monitoring diversity programs.

Despite the reassignment, reports suggest that NASA viewed this move as a way to avoid directly violating the executive order while still continuing its DEI efforts. However, NASA later decided to remove Rajendra from the new position entirely, and she was let go from the organization.

The decision to fire Rajendra is part of NASA’s broader strategy to align with the executive order, which included closing DEI offices and removing DEI-related content from the agency’s websites. Many DEI employees were placed on paid administrative leave as part of this restructuring. The agency’s director expressed gratitude for Rajendra’s work, but ultimately, NASA chose to comply with the mandates of the executive order and dismantle its diversity-focused programs.

This move has sparked a larger debate about the future of diversity efforts in federal agencies. Critics argue that scaling back diversity programs could have negative effects on workplace inclusion and innovation, especially in scientific fields like space exploration. Supporters of the executive order argue that these initiatives were overly focused on race and gender, and that eliminating them would promote a more merit-based system.

As NASA continues to adjust to the effects of the executive order, it remains to be seen how these changes will impact the agency’s approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the future.