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Federal government websites devoted to diversity, equity and inclusion went offline Wednesday as the White House threatened “adverse consequences” for agencies that fail to report DEI-related information within 10 days. One of the instructions was to remove “all outward facing media” related to DEI work. ... For example, an archived version of the page for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said the agency understands and supports “the value of diversity in improving organizational efficiency and effectiveness.” The National Institutes of Health page outlined a strategic plan for DEI and a framework to apply it to the agency’s mission, according to an archived version preserved by the Internet Archive. (King and Leonard, 1/22)

The Trump administration on Wednesday threatened federal employees with “adverse consequences” if they fail to report on colleagues who defy orders to purge diversity, equity and inclusion efforts from their agencies. Tens of thousands of workers were put on notice that officials would not tolerate any efforts to “disguise these programs by using coded or imprecise language.” (Green and Aleaziz, 1/22)

The backlash against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs may feel like a pendulum swing from 2020, when the nation faced a racial reckoning after Black father George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis by a White police officer. But the DEI practice has been around for decades. The origins of DEI programs date to the Civil Rights Movement, which played a pivotal role in accelerating efforts to create more diverse and inclusive workplaces, said Dominique Hollins, founder of the DEI consulting firm WĒ360. (Ellis, 1/22)

A proposal to ban formaldehyde in hair straightening products is now in limbo after President Donald Trump signed an executive order pausing all federal regulations. The Food and Drug Administration announced it would decide by April 2024 whether chemical hair straightening products sold in the U.S. would be banned from using formaldehyde or ingredients that can release formaldehyde when heated. (Garcia and Lovelace Jr., 1/22)

Medical schools are being told by their lawyers to stop using strategies to diversify classes that are still legally permitted, despite a Supreme Court ruling against the use of affirmative action in admissions. Experts said this response to the court decision, which some called “overzealous,” helped fuel the double-digit decline seen this year in the enrollment of Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous students — and may be a form of discrimination in itself. (McFarling, 1/23)

The first Black woman to join the U.S. Army Nurse Corps after the military was desegregated in the 1940s has died. She was 104. Nancy Leftenant-Colon, who retired as a major and died earlier this month at a New York nursing home, was remembered by relatives and friends for quietly breaking down racial barriers during her long military career. (Casey, 1/22)