DOGE Says US National Science Foundation Canceling Over $325 Million in DEI Research

The cancellation is in line with Trump’s order to end the federal government’s DEI policy.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has cancelled hundreds of millions of dollars of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) grants under the Trump administration (DOGE).

“A great job from @NSF cancels 701 wasted DEI grants (savings of $203 million), which will save more than $325 million in total over the last two weeks.”

NSF has terminated its $20,000 “Management Development” agreement to train course materials related to “Understanding Bias to Unlock Possibilities.”

NSF is an independent federal agency supporting science and engineering that issues grants for research purposes. Foundation investments account for approximately 25% of the federal support received by US universities for basic research.

The agency said in a post on April 26th X that it closed several awards that “differently matched our priorities” and highlighted the agency’s decision to abandon the Dei standard with this month’s grant.

In a statement on April 18, the foundation clarified its priorities, saying “principles of merit, competition, equal opportunity and excellence are the foundations of the NSF mission,” and that “continue to review all projects using intellectual merit and broader impact criteria.”

The NSF’s broader impact criteria examine whether research funding requests achieve specific social outcomes in the areas of increasing participation by women and people with disabilities in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, and in the “underrepresented minority” fields.

In a statement updated on April 25, NSF said that activities carried out to meet broader impact criteria should aim to create opportunities for “all Americans, all Americans.”

“These efforts should not prefer some groups at the expense of other groups and should not directly/indirectly exclude individuals or groups.” “Research projects that are restricted to subgroups of people based on protected classes or characteristics will not affect NSF priorities.”

“Awards that do not align with NSF priorities have concluded awards, including but not limited to those relating to diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) and misinformation/disinformation.”

Dei Purge

DEI DITH DEI’s decision was signed on the first day of his office, in cooperation with President Donald Trump’s executive order, “End and prioritize radical and futile government DEI programs.”

In an action statement, Trump ordered the end of “any discriminatory programme, including illegal DEIs and “diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility” (DEIA) missions, policies, programs, preferences and activities, whatever they appear in the federal government.”

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) criticized the NSF for termination of grants related to DEI and “misinformation/disinformation,” according to a statement on April 18 of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.

“Americans deserve scientific companies with no political interference, where expert scientists and engineers participate in a merit-based review process to recommend the most innovative and promising research proposals,” she said.

“The American people don’t want a system in which Senate and White House politicians decide which scientific projects to fund or repay based on their biases.”

The end of the NSF grant comes when director Sethuraman Panchanathan resigns on Thursday. He was nominated for the Post by Trump in 2019 and confirmed by the Senate for a six-year term in 2020.

The agency is currently undergoing internal overhauls, including staff layoffs and imposing travel restrictions.

Republicans are denounced the NSF for leftist bias. In February, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) released a database of more than 3,400 grants issued by the foundation with federal funds totaling over $2.05 billion, according to a Feb. 11 statement from the lawmakers’ office.

The funding was used for “suspecting projects” that promoted DEI or promoted “neo-Marxist class war propaganda,” the statement said.

Among the grants was a $401,744 2022 award for San Jose State University, which trained teachers and students as “climate justice action researchers and change agents.” impartial. ”

“DEI’s initiative poisoned research efforts, erod confidence in the scientific community, and promoted division among Americans,” Cruz said at the time.