NASA fires Indian-Origin DEI chief after Trump's executive order

An India -origin Neela Rajendra at NASA has become a latest victim of President Donald Trump's order. Neela, chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has been fired despite the space agency reportedly changing her designation to avoid US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on DEI initiatives. Rajendra was terminated  from her newly minted role as head of the “Office of Team Excellence and Employee Success", according to reports. She had run the lab’s central diversity office, during which she once argued that having deadlines for projects undermines inclusion.
Rajendra was in charge of the agency’s “Black Excellence Strategic Team" as of March. There was growing speculation after she managed to keep her job, even after 900 employees were fired from NASA in 2024 due to budgetary issues. NASA shuttered its diversity department in March after Trump’s executive order banning DEI programmes in executive branch agencies. However, Rajendra was still allowed to continue her job, with a new title and same responsibilities.An email by NASA acting administrator Janet Petro admitted that “these programmes divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars, and resulted in shameful discrimination." The space agency has spent at least $22.4 million annually on such programmes, according to Daily Mail.
NASA has engaged in DEI efforts for over a decade, first creating the Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Implementation Plan in 2012. The agency’s DEI spending from 2022 to the present has largely focused on environmental programmes.DEI programmes are aimed at promoting opportunities for women, ethnic minorities, LGBT people and other traditionally underrepresented groups. While proponents of these initiatives say they are important to address inequalities and structural racism, Trump and other Republicans say they unfairly discriminate against other Americans and weaken the importance of merit.