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Tag: contracts

Trump admin cancels another $350M in contracts as it targets DEI initiatives

The Department of Education last week said it canceled nearly $350 million in “woke” spending, purportedly addressing the most pressing problems of education policy and practice.

The agency canceled 10 contracts with Regional Educational Laboratories (REL), totaling $336 million, after a review of the contracts uncovered “wasteful and ideologically driven spending not in the interest of students and taxpayers,” a news release states.

It’s not clear if the cuts were related to the Department of Government Efficiency slashing the Education Department’s activities related to DEI.

DOGE SLASHES OVER $100M IN DEI FUNDING AT EDUCATION DEPARTMENT: ‘WIN FOR EVERY STUDENT’

The Department of Education has canceled various grants and contracts since President Donald Trump took office last month. (Getty Images)

RELs have been around for nearly 60 years, according to the Institute of Education Sciences, which administers the 10 RELs across the country, which are divided by region.

The programs “contribute to the growing body of research on how experiences within the nation’s education system differ by context and student group, thereby impacting outcomes and identifying potential solutions,” the IES website states.

However, a review found instances where DEI initiatives were being funded, the Department of Education said.

“For example, the Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest has been advising schools in Ohio to undertake ‘equity audits’ and ‘equity conversations,’” the agency said. “The Department plans to enter into new contracts that will satisfy the statutory requirements, improve student learning, and better serve school districts, State Departments of Education, and other education stakeholders.”

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION WARNS THAT PUBLIC SCHOOLS MUST REMOVE DEI POLICIES OR LOSE FEDERAL FUNDING

President Donald Trump and Elon Musk (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Also terminated were $33 million in grant funds to four Equity Assistance Centers, which supported training in DEI, critical race theory and gender identity for state and local education agencies as well as school boards, the Education Department said.

On Monday, the department announced the termination of more than $600 million in grants to institutions and nonprofits that were using taxpayer funds to train teachers and education agencies on allegedly divisive ideologies.

“Training materials included inappropriate and unnecessary topics such as Critical Race Theory; Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI); social justice activism; ‘anti-racism,’ and instruction on white privilege and white supremacy,” a news release states. “Additionally, many of these grants included teacher and staff recruiting strategies implicitly and explicitly based on race.”

President Donald Trump has said he wants to abolish the Department of Education, calling it a “con job” that has failed to properly educate American students.

Elon Musk and the Department of Education (Getty Images)

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“Oh, I’d like it to be closed immediately. Look at the Department of Education. It’s a big con job,” he said last week. “They ranked the top countries in the world. We’re ranked No. 40, but we’re ranked No. 1 in one department: cost per pupil.”

“So, we spend more per pupil than any other country in the world, but we’re ranked No. 40,” he added.

February 18, 2025
DOGE announces more than $1B in savings after canceling 104 federal DEI contracts

The new federal Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced Friday that taxpayers will see just over a $1 billion savings through the elimination of 104 diversity, equity and inclusion-related (DEI) contracts.

As of Wednesday, DOGE had recorded the cancellation of 85 “DEIA” contracts from 25 federal agencies. By Friday afternoon, that number had grown to 104 contracts totaling $1,000,060,792, according to a DOGE news release.

Of note, 21 Department of the Treasury contracts were canceled, saving a total of $25,247,783. In second place was the Department of Health & Human Services, which canceled 15 contracts worth $28,187,448.

While the Office of Personnel Management only had three contracts canceled, the dollar figure was pinned at a whopping $494,956,233, an average of about $165 million per DEI contract.

TOP DOGE LAWMAKER SAYS TRUMP ‘ALREADY RACKING UP WINS FOR TAXPAYERS’ WITH EFFICIENCY INITIATIVES

The other agencies with the most contracts canceled by the Trump administration include Agriculture with 11 and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Homeland Security with seven each.

According to a release Monday from the Department of Veterans Affairs, 60 employees whose roles were solely focused on DEI were placed on administrative leave, and spokesperson Morgan Ackley said the administration is “laser focused on providing the best possible care and benefits to Veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors.”

“We are proud to have abandoned the divisive DEI policies of the past and pivot back to VA’s core mission,” Ackley said.

The rapid-fire DEI contract eliminations come one week after President Donald Trump signed an executive order targeting the endeavors, officially described as “ending illegal discrimination and restoring merit-based opportunity.”

‘DOGE’-MEETS-CONGRESS: GOP LAWMAKER AARON BEAN LAUNCHES CAUCUS TO HELP MUSK ‘TAKE ON CRAZYTOWN’

However, a consortium of liberal state attorneys general lambasted Trump with a warning that the moves “have nothing to do with combating discrimination.”

A joint statement led by Rhode Island AG Peter Neronha Friday called the executive orders that led to the dismantling of DEI policies and programs “unnecessary and disingenuous.”

Neronha and his co-signers — attorneys general from California, Illinois, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Vermont and Washington state — said they would agree to be “willing partners” in cracking down on discrimination if Trump chose instead to utilize “longstanding civil rights laws” rather than the path he has chosen.

“Contrary to President Trump’s assertions, the policies he seeks to end do not diminish the importance of individual merit, nor do they mean that employers are lowering their standards, hiring unqualified candidates, or engaging in race-and-sex-based preferences,” the statement said.

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“DEIA initiatives simply ensure that there are fair opportunities for everyone, helping to maximize contributions from all employees and enabling businesses and organizations to succeed in their missions.”

In Congress, Rep. Aaron Bean and Sen. Joni Ernst have been leading DOGE efforts to further curtail government waste and abuse.

Bean, a Republican from Jacksonville, Florida, founded the Congressional DOGE Caucus in November, and Ernst, Iowa, has led the charge to lobby for return-to-work requirements for federal employees and sales of unused or underused federal office space.

Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital.

He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant.

Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.

Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to [email protected].

January 31, 2025
Trump’s federal DEI purge puts hundreds on leave, nixes $420M in contracts

FIRST ON FOX: President Donald Trump’s executive order terminating all federal diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs has already sidelined 395 government bureaucrats, a senior administration official told Fox News Digital.

Trump’s newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed up by Elon Musk, wrote on X Friday that approximately $420 million in current/impending contracts, mainly focused on DEI initiatives, had also been canceled.

After Trump signed the order on the day of his inauguration, the federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM) notified heads of agencies and departments that they must begin taking steps to close all DEI offices by the end of the day Wednesday, and place government workers in those offices on paid leave. It is not yet clear when or if they will be terminated.

ATF ACCUSED OF ‘CIRCUMVENTING’ TRUMP ORDER TO PLACE DEI STAFF ON PAID LEAVE

President Trump’s executive order terminating all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in the federal government has left 395 workers on paid leave, a senior administration official told Fox News Digital on Saturday. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Acting Director of the Office of Personnel Management Charles Ezell sent a memo to heads and acting heads of departments and agencies on Tuesday evening directing them that by the end of business on Jan. 22, they were to inform all agency employees of the DEI shutdown. In addition, they were instructed to tell workers directly involved in DEI they were being placed on paid leave immediately, take down all DEI-related websites and social media accounts, cancel any related contracts or training, and ask employees to report any efforts to disguise DEI programs by using coded or imprecise language.

The memo also directed the heads of agencies and departments that by noon on Jan. 23, they were to provide OPM with lists of all DEI offices, employees, and related contracts in effect as of Nov. 5, 2024.

By Friday, Jan. 24, at 5 p.m., agency heads were required to submit to OPM a written plan for executing a reduction-in-force action regarding DEI employees and a list of all contract descriptions or personnel position descriptions that were changed since Nov. 5, 2024, to obscure their connection to DEI programs.

After Trump signed the order on the day of his inauguration, the federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM) notified heads of agencies and departments that they must begin taking steps to close all DEI offices by the end of the day on Wednesday, and place government workers in those offices on paid leave. (Fox News Digital-Hannah Grossman)

3 IN 10 VOTERS THINK ENDING DEI PROGRAMS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, POLL SHOWS, AS FEDERAL DEADLINE LOOMS

The executive order was among dozens Trump signed on his first day in office, including the government only recognizing two genders and withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement.

He also issued two other executive actions on Tuesday targeting DEI – an executive order to end discrimination in the workplace and higher education through race and sex-based preferences under the guise of DEI and a memo to eliminate a Biden administration policy that prioritized DEI hiring at the Federal Aviation Administration.

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) said it had canceled around $420 million in DEI-related contracts this week. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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Trump’s Monday executive order rescinded President Joe Biden’s one on promoting diversity initiatives, “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government,” which he signed on his first day in office.

Fox News’ Brooke Singman and Landon Mion contributed to this report.

January 26, 2025