Neela Rajendra, a top NASA official of Indian origin who was in charge of the agency’s diversity programs, has been removed from her position. This happened after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a stop to all federal Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Even though NASA tried to protect her by changing her job title, the effort didn’t succeed.

The Washington Free Beacon claims that last week, the lab notified the personnel of Rajendra's departure. JPL Director Laurie Leshin wrote in an email, “Neela Rajendra is no longer working at (Jet Propulsion Laboratory). We are incredibly grateful for the lasting impact she made to our organisation. We wish her the very best.” In March, NASA officially shut down its DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) office. However, they gave Rajendra a new position with similar duties. Rajendra, who was previously the Chief DEI Officer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), was appointed as the head of a new department called the "Office of Team Excellence and Employee Success." In this role, she continued supporting employee groups, including one called the "Black Excellence Strategic Team." However, she has now been dismissed from that position as well.

Neela Rajendra has an MBA from Wake Forest University School of Business and a Bachelor's degree in Political Science and Music from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. With over 15 years of experience, she specialises in leadership and inclusion strategies, focusing on equity, employee development and organisational transformation. Most recently, she worked as the Chief Team Excellence & Employee Success Officer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Before that, Rajendra was JPL’s Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer, where she led efforts to create a more inclusive aerospace workforce. She played a major role in national initiatives like the Space Workforce 2030 pledge, which aims to increase the representation of women and minorities in STEM fields.

Before joining NASA, Rajendra co-founded and led the Science of Diversity and Inclusion Initiative in Chicago, where she held roles including Executive Director and Design Director. She has also worked in leadership positions at Claremont McKenna College’s Kravis Leadership Institute, Ashoka, The Advisory Board Company, and nxtMOVE. Rajendra was also involved in initiatives like NASA's "Space Workforce 2030" pledge, which focused on increasing the hiring of women and minorities in the space industry. She was one of the few Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) officials who kept their position last year when NASA had to cut nearly 900 DEI-related roles due to budget issues.

In January 2025, Trump signed an executive order that ended DEI programs in the federal government. The order claimed that these programs had caused division among Americans based on race, colour and gender, wasted taxpayer money, and led to unfair discrimination. The order also revoked previous rules that required federal contractors to follow non-discrimination and affirmative action policies. It instructed all federal agencies to get rid of DEI-related roles, training, and contracts. Additionally, the order emphasised returning to merit-based hiring and promotions, stating that DEI policies favoured certain groups and went against the principle of equal opportunity.

According to Reuters, the Trump administration introduced buyout programs to encourage federal workers to leave voluntarily. In January, over 75,000 of the 2.3 million civilian federal employees accepted these buyouts, and a second round has been offered, allowing employees to stay on paid leave until September 30. These efforts aim to reduce the number of federal workers by more than 200,000.

A report from The Guardian says that Trump signed an executive order that changed the status of thousands of federal workers to "Schedule F." This new designation removes their civil service protections, making it easier to fire them. The administration has also proposed cutting funding for several federal programs to save money. A plan sent to Congress includes eliminating all federal funding for National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), as well as reducing foreign aid by $8.3 billion through the US Agency for International Development (USAID). These cuts are part of a larger plan to reduce federal spending by $1 trillion each year.