NASA fires Indian-origin DEI chief Neela Rajendra after Trump’s anti-DEI government order
NASA eliminated DEI chief Neela Rajendra after Trump’s government order banned range initiatives in federal businesses. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) rebranding try failed.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has formally parted methods with Neela Rajendra, its Indian-origin head of range, fairness, and inclusion (DEI), regardless of earlier efforts to retain her by altering her title following the shutdown of the lab’s DEI division in March. The transfer comes within the wake of an government order from President Donald Trump that bans DEI initiatives throughout government department businesses. In line with an inside e mail despatched by JPL Director Laurie Leshin final Thursday, Rajendra “is now not working” on the facility. The e-mail, cited by the Washington Free Beacon, praised her contributions however confirmed the transition. “We’re extremely grateful for the lasting affect she made to our group. We want her the perfect,” it learn.
Title change could not save DEI function
In March, the lab tried to retain Rajendra by reassigning her to guide the newly created Workplace of Crew Excellence and Worker Success—rebranded to exclude any references to DEI. Nevertheless, a lot of her tasks, together with overseeing worker affinity teams such because the Black Excellence Strategic Crew (B.E.S.T.), reportedly remained the identical. This quiet workaround didn’t fulfill compliance with the Trump administration’s mandate, resulting in her eventual exit.
Makes an attempt to entry Rajendra’s profile on NASA’s official web site now return a “404 Web page not discovered” error, indicating her elimination from JPL’s organizational listing.
Context: DEI scrutiny and price range cuts
Neela Rajendra’s exit follows months of rising scrutiny over NASA’s DEI initiatives, particularly after a separate controversy involving two astronauts stranded aboard the Worldwide House Station for 9 months on account of a propulsion failure. Critics questioned whether or not extreme concentrate on DEI had diverted consideration from mission-critical operations.
Rajendra, who beforehand criticized SpaceX’s “fast-paced” and “DEI-deficient” tradition in 2022, satirically noticed the identical firm convey the stranded astronauts residence through certainly one of its capsules.
Regardless of stories suggesting Rajendra had prevented the spherical of 900 layoffs at JPL earlier this 12 months amid NASA’s price range tightening, her departure means that even rebranded roles at the moment are underneath assessment.
Trump’s government order and wider implications
The event is a part of a broader federal compliance effort after Trump’s government order titled “Restoring the Values of Particular person Dignity, Arduous Work, and Excellence”, signed earlier this 12 months. The order prohibits using race, gender, or identity-based standards in federal hiring and mandates the dismantling of “radical DEI ideology” from all federal service divisions.
The White Home emphasised that employment choices inside federal businesses should now strictly adhere to merit-based rules.
As of now, NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory haven’t issued any public touch upon Rajendra’s elimination.
