HHS axes $350M in woke DEI grants: A long-overdue course correction

By willowt // 2025-03-25

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The HHS canceled $350 million in NIH grants funding DEI initiatives and gender ideology research, aligning with President Trump’s executive order banning federal DEI policies.
HHS and NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya emphasized redirecting funds toward health-focused research, rejecting "frivolous" studies they argue prioritize activism over medical breakthroughs.
The article condemns past misuse of taxpayer dollars for progressive projects (e.g., gender identity genomics, mice studies) and applauds Trump’s broader cuts to DEI programs across federal agencies.
Democrats and institutions like the University of California opposed the cuts, but the administration framed the move as a victory for fiscal responsibility and a return to science over woke waste.

In a decisive blow against wasteful government spending and ideological activism masquerading as science, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has terminated over $350 million in National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants funding divisive Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives and radical gender ideology research. This move, spearheaded by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., follows President Donald J. Trump’s executive order banning DEI policies across the federal government — a bold reaffirmation of merit-based governance and a rejection of race-obsessed bureaucracy.

The most egregious wastes of taxpayer dollars

Among the hundreds of canceled grants were projects that would make any fiscally responsible American’s blood boil:

$1 million to the University of Maryland to develop an "intersectional, multilevel and multidimensional Structural Racism Measure."
$1 million to Emory University to study how transgender hormone treatments affect mice skeletons—because apparently, America’s health crisis now includes rodent gender dysphoria.
$5 million to Vanderbilt University Medical Center to hire faculty based on race rather than merit, explicitly seeking "minoritized racial and ethnic groups."

HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon put it bluntly: "The terminated research grants are simply wasteful in studying things that do not pertain to American’s health to any significant degree, including DEI and gender ideology. As we begin to Make America Healthy Again, it's important to prioritize research that directly affects the health of Americans."

A return to real science, not activism

This is not the first time the Trump administration has taken a sledgehammer to wasteful DEI spending. Just weeks into his second term, Trump cut $2.3 million for a bizarre virtual reality DEI program for soldiers and slashed funding to USAID, which had been bankrolling leftist projects worldwide. The NIH, once a beacon of groundbreaking medical research, had devolved into a slush fund for progressive pet projects. Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, Trump’s pick for NIH director, defended the cuts during his confirmation hearing, emphasizing a new vision for the agency: one that prioritizes real health outcomes over political indoctrination. "I want to rid the agency's research portfolio of other 'frivolous' efforts that do little to directly benefit health outcomes," Bhattacharya stated, refusing to bow to Democrats’ demands to restore funding for what he clearly sees as junk science.

Why this matters: The long history of bureaucratic bloat

For decades, federal agencies have been hijacked by activists pushing divisive ideologies under the guise of "equity." The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was meant to ensure equal opportunity — not to enforce racial quotas or fund pseudoscientific studies on "microaggressions." Yet under previous administrations, NIH grants became a piggy bank for left-wing academics, with taxpayer dollars funneled into studies that would never pass muster in the private sector. One million to study "genomic associations with gender identity"? Fifty thousand to examine how hormone treatments affect mice wound healing? These are not pressing national health concerns—they are vanity projects for activists.

The backlash: Expect more whining from the Left

Unsurprisingly, the usual suspects are outraged. Democrats grilled Bhattacharya, demanding he defy the administration’s cuts. But he stood firm, vowing to "follow the law" while redirecting resources toward real medical breakthroughs—not social engineering. The University of California system, anticipating Trump’s crackdown, has already dropped diversity statements in hiring. Other institutions clinging to DEI dogma should take note: the gravy train is over.

A victory for fiscal sanity

For too long, hardworking Americans have been forced to bankroll absurd, politically motivated "research" that does nothing to cure diseases, lower healthcare costs, or improve lives. The Trump administration’s sweeping cuts mark a return to commonsense priorities — funding science, not propaganda. As Biden-era excesses are rolled back, one thing is clear: The era of woke waste is ending. And not a moment too soon. Sources include: TheNationalPulse.com FoxNews.com AOL.com