WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Most U.S. government websites appeared to be online and accessible on Friday, after a source familiar with the matter said Trump administration officials would put a pause on most sites after 5 p.m. ET.
The plan to pull some websites down temporarily was first reported by CBS News, which said the move was designed to remove diversity-related content. Fox News reported it was aimed at eliminating diversity content and any language opposed to Trump’s agenda.
Shortly after 5 p.m., the U.S. Census website went down for some users. It was not immediately clear if any other websites had gone down. The Treasury and State Department websites were among government sites that were still online.
It was not immediately clear how long any affected websites would be down.
Asked earlier whether government websites would be shut down this evening to be scrubbed of information on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Trump told reporters:
“I don’t know. It doesn’t sound like a bad idea to me.”
“I think DEI is dead, so (if) they want to scrub the websites, that’s OK with me,” he added.
Trump has moved quickly to quash federal diversity initiatives since taking office on Jan. 20, drawing criticism from rights advocates who fear he is rolling back progress the United States has made to overcome discrimination.
While Trump’s orders have been celebrated by some supporters and allies, they have been criticized by advocacy groups who say they might deepen inequities and undo decades of progress made to enshrine civil rights protections for marginalized groups.
(Reporting by Steve Holland, Raphael Satter and Kanishka Singh in Washington; writing by Costas Pitas; editing by Rami Ayyub)
