Cruz Alleges Biden Used Research Funds for DEI Efforts

Texas Senator Ted Cruz (R) has released a report, accusing the Biden-Harris Administration of diverting billions of scientific research funds for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. Senator Cruz, the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, shared the report on social media, argued that DEI considerations are now important in shaping National Science Foundation (NSF) grant decisions.

In the report, Senator Cruz posits that "in recent years, we have seen a sharp increase in actual scientists—that is, people with degrees in the hard sciences from major universities who regularly receive money to conduct actual scientific research—using their credentials to parrot the talking points of the woke neo-Marxist left."

In the committees' findings, it identified that of 3,483 grants, which accounts to 10% of all NSF grants that were awarded during President Joe Biden's (D) term in office, "more than $2.05 billion went to questionable projects that promoted DEI or pushed Neo-Marxist perspectives."

On social media, the Texas Senator shared what the money went to, warning "that many of the most extreme research proposals were led by principal investigators who are also promoting radical perspectives through on-campus activism and in their classrooms.

$1,034,751 in NSF grant funds were awarded in 2023 for a project titled “Reimagining Educator Learning Pathways Through Storywork for Racial Equity in STEM." The Texas Senator also pointed out that $401,744 were awarded to an ongoing project aiming to “transform science teaching and learning through empowering teachers and students as climate justice action researchers and change agents," and yet another $99,791 in funds were awarded to “disrupt racialized privilege in the STEM classroom” by acknowledging “Whiteness and White Supremacy” are “deeply ingrained in the past, present and future of U.S. Higher education.

The report also points out that the emphasis on NSF grants comes at the same time that public opinion of the scientific community is declining.