Yesterday (Dec. 21), President–elect Donald Trump’s transition team sent an email to the State Department asking it to enumerate all of its gender-based initiatives and what funds are allocated to gender-based programs for Fiscal Year 2017. The note also demanded the department provide a list of staff members whose primary duties included promoting gender rights issues.
The memo asked that responses be submitted by 5pm EST on Wednesday, just eight hours after it was sent.
The memo was obtained by The New York Times, and the paper redacted personal information on the email.
The Times reports that the memo has “rattled State Department employees, even those at senior levels” and that some personnel feared the incoming administration was trying to pin down programs focused on the LGBT community, though the memo does not directly address this.
This action follows a recent 74-part questionnaire the transition team sent to the Energy Department, which asked agency officials to name any employees and contractors that had done any work on the international climate accords or on efforts to cut carbon emissions in the US.
