Caught in the net of President Donald Trump’s executive order banning diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) programs, Indian-origin Neela Rajendra has been ousted from her top spot in NASA. The US space agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has officially split up from its diversity chief despite initial weeks-long efforts to retain her.

“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,” JPL Director Laurie Leshin wrote in an email to the staff, as per the Washington Free Beacon.

Prior to finally firing her, the NASA changed her designation to the Head of Office of Team Excellence and Employee Success. The strategic switch was made to shield her from Trump’s efforts to roll back DEI initiatives. Her LinkedIn profile makes this shift hard to ignore. From August 2021 to March 2025, she served as the ‘Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer,’ until she became the ‘Chief Team Excellence & Employee Success Officer.’

In March, NASA officially shut down its DEI office, keeping in line with Trump’s executive order arguing “these programs divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars, and resulted in shameful discrimination.” According to the Daily Mail, Neela Rajendra retained the majority of her original job duties despite last month’s rebranding, and hence, she was ultimately let go as the agency failed to “hide” her. As of early March, she was still heading the ‘Black Excellence Strategic Team.’

Donald Trump’s executive order dismantling DEI

Upon his re-election in January 2025, the Republican president signed an executive order titled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” i.e. the “January 21 DEI Order.” The order in question includes a section titled “Encouraging the Private Sector to End Illegal DEI Discrimination and Preferences,” instructing federal agencies to “take all appropriate action with respect to the operations of their agencies to advance in the private sector the policy of individual initiative, excellence, and hard work.”

According to Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, the Jan 21 Order revokes Executive Order 11246, which tasked federal contractors with “affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin.” As a result, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs was ordered to “immediately cease” the following:

“Promoting ‘diversity’”; “Holding Federal contractors and subcontractors responsible for taking ‘affirmative action’”; and “Allowing or encouraging Federal contractors and subcontractors to engage in workforce balancing based on race, color, sex, sexual preference, religion, or national origin.”

Furthermore, Trump’s executive order directs “all departments and agencies to take strong action to end private sector DEI discrimination, including civil compliance investigations.” The directive aligns with Trump vowing in his inaugural address to “forge a society that is colour-blind and merit-based.”

In a similar case last week, US Navy Vice Adm Shoshana Chatfield, the only woman on NATO’s military committee, was fired after she appeared on a ‘woke’ list. Neela Rajendra’s stint as the diversity chief at NASA’s JPL was, in turn, ultimately put through the grinder as well amid Donald Trump and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s (including Elon Musk) vigorous campaign to get rid of leaders who promoted diversity,