Happy New Year 2025

Tag: grants

DOGE puts DEI on chopping block with termination of over $370M in education department grants

In just 48 hours, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) slashed a whopping $370 million in taxpayer dollars being spent on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at the Department of Education.

DOGE, the newly formed department led by Elon Musk to purge spending by the federal government, revealed in a post on X that they terminated 70 DEI training grants within the department.

According to DOGE, the grants totaled $373 million.

One grant was reportedly funding training for teachers to “engage in ongoing learning and self-reflection to confront their own biases and racism, and develop asset-based anti-racist mindsets,” the cost-cutting department said.

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

Elon Musk has been slashing costs at the Department of Education. (Getty Images)

Over the past several weeks, DOGE has announced the canceling of various streams of funding to DEI in education, including $9.7 million for UC Berkeley to develop “a cohort of Cambodian youth with enterprise driven skills.”

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

The latest spending sweep comes just days after DOGE announced the termination of another 89 DOE contracts totaling $881 million, which included more than $100 million in DEI grants.

The Department of Education building is seen on Aug. 21, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images)

“Hurrah” Heather Higgins, CEO of Independent Women’s Voice, wrote in a post on X in response to the latest DOGE cuts.

The Education Department has been cracking down on DEI practices in education, ordering all 50 state education departments last week to remove DEI policies within 14 days or risk losing federal funding.

President Donald Trump, right, speaks as Elon Musk listens in the Oval Office at the White House on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Alex Brandon)

The letter said the “overt and covert racial discrimination that has become widespread in this nation’s educational institutions” will no longer be tolerated.

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“The law is clear: treating students differently on the basis of race to achieve nebulous goals such as diversity, racial balancing, social justice, or equity is illegal under controlling Supreme Court precedent,” the letter reads.

Fox News’ Landon Mion contributed to this report.

Aubrie Spady is a Writer for Fox News Digital.

February 17, 2025
Disney grants princess ballgown making wish for 10-year-old girl battling cancer

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As the “Cinderella” classic song goes, “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes,” one little girl had hers come true recently at Walt Disney World.

Make-A-Wish kid Rita, 10, is an aspiring designer who is battling cancer. She yearned to meet Disney’s costume design experts to create a “royal dress of her own,” Disney said on Wednesday.

Rita got to have a one-on-one gown design session with Disney designers, as well as tour Disney’s costuming building and fabric library.

“I was so excited because I got to go to a top-secret fashion place at Disney. I got to see all the ways costumes are designed, which was really cool,” Rita said in a statement.

CAUSE OF RIDE CLOSURES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD’S MAGIC KINGDOM MONDAY NIGHT REVEALED

Rita, 10, in the middle, hugs Cinderella in front of her castle at Walt Disney World with Prince Charming standing by. (Disney / Fox News)

Rita’s Cinderella-inspired dress that she had a hand in illustrating was officially named, “Rita’s Rose Diamond Dress.” She was able to pick out colors, fabric and sparkles.

Her visit just so happened to coincide with the film’s 75th anniversary, which originally debuted on Feb. 15, 1950.

She was surprised when the costuming team told her that her design would be brought to life by the creation of a scale model replica of the gown for her to keep.

DISNEY’S MAGIC KINGDOM HONORS 100-YEAR-OLD WWII VETERAN DURING FLAG RETREAT CEREMONY

“Rita’s Rose Diamond Dress” illustration side-by-side with her doll-sized replica of the gown to keep. (Disney / Fox News)

“As a child, I was in and out of the hospital myself. It means so much to be able to fulfill a wish for someone going through that because I know what it’s like. It’s one of the best experiences I’ve ever had at Disney, and I’m so grateful I got to be part of it,” Allison Atmore, Costume Specialist at Disney Live Entertainment, said.

Disney has been working with Make-A-Wish for 45 years, and is the foundation’s “world’s largest wish granter,” the company said.

Rita and her family pose with Cinderella’s step sisters during her Make-A-Wish visit at Disney. (Disney / Fox News)

“Creating happiness for Make-A-Wish families is what we’re all about here at Disney. Our stories, parks and cast members help them make new memories that bring strength and hope,” Tajiana Ancora-Brown, Director of External Affairs at Walt Disney World, said.

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While her mom says they have a long road ahead of them in Rita’s medical journey, she said “there’s no words” for the time together that means so much to them and will be a forever memory.

“I just had a blast!” Rita said about her day at Disney.

February 13, 2025
Judge blocks Trump admin directive capping costs tied to federal research grants

A judge temporarily halted a directive by the Trump administration that imposed a cap on overhead costs that go to universities and other institutions that host federally funded research projects.

The directive, which went into effect Monday, sparked an outcry of criticism from research institutions that argued the new rule would have devastating consequences. It was immediately challenged in court by 22 Democratic state attorneys general, as well as by several leading research universities and related groups in a second lawsuit.

U.S. District Court Judge Angel Kelley subsequently ruled in favor of the 22 state attorneys general, granting their request for a temporary restraining order that prohibits agencies from taking any steps to implement, apply or enforce the new rule that imposed a cap on facilities and administrative costs that are part of federally funded research grants.

‘WHAT A RIPOFF!’: TRUMP SPARKS BACKLASH AFTER CUTTING BILLIONS IN OVERHEAD COSTS FROM NIH RESEARCH GRANTS

The rule capped overhead costs associated with National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded research grants at 15%.

When a grant is awarded to a scientist by the NIH, an additional percentage, on top of the allocated research funding, goes to the facility housing their work to cover these “indirect costs.” According to an announcement about the new funding cap from the Trump administration, that percentage has historically been around 27% to 28% for each grant. But in some cases, negotiated rates can be even higher, such as at the University of Michigan where the negotiated rate for indirect costs is 56%.

In fiscal year 2023, the NIH spent around $35 billion on roughly 50,000 grants that go to research institutions, such as universities and hospitals. Of that $35 billion, according to the Trump administration, $9 billion was allocated for “indirect costs” that cover expenses related to depreciation on buildings, equipment, capital improvements, interest on debt associated with certain buildings, and operations and maintenance expenses. (iStock)

The lawsuit from the attorneys general argued the move violated federal law governing the procedures federal agencies must follow when implementing new regulations. They also argued that the move usurped the will of Congress, which, in 2018, passed legislation prohibiting the NIH or the Health and Human Services Department from unilaterally making changes to current negotiated rates, or implementing a modified approach to the reimbursement of indirect costs.

UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR HAILS THAT SCIENCE ‘THRIVED’ UNDER HITLER IN ATTACK ON TRUMP’S NIH CUTS

Kelley’s temporary restraining order requires the Trump administration agencies that are impacted by the new rule to file reports within 24 hours to confirm the steps they are taking to comply with her order. Meanwhile, Kelley set an in-person hearing date on the matter for Feb. 21.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment on the restraining order, but did not hear back at press time. However, after the directive went into effect on Monday, White House spokesperson Kush Desai told Fox News Digital, “Contrary to the hysteria, redirecting billions of allocated NIH spending away from administrative bloat means there will be more money and resources available for legitimate scientific research, not less.”

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced a $9 billion spending cut in response to a new mandate from the Trump administration. (Alamy/Getty Images)

Earlier on Monday, U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell said the Trump administration had violated his order halting a federal aid funding freeze that sought to pause “all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance,” to ensure federal disbursements aligned with the president’s executive actions.

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McConnell ordered the government to “immediately restore frozen funding,” noting that plaintiffs had provided adequate evidence to show the Trump administration “in some cases [has] continued to improperly freeze federal funds and refused to resume disbursement of appropriated federal funds,” despite his “clear and unambiguous” order lifting the freeze.

February 11, 2025
Trump cuts $9 billion in overhead costs from NIH research grants: ‘A ripoff!’

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced it would be cutting billions in overhead costs associated with federally funded research grants that go to various institutions, as part of a wider move by the Trump administration to slash wasteful spending.

The agency’s announcement unveiling the directive indicated that in fiscal year 2023, the NIH spent around $35 billion across roughly 50,000 grants that go to research institutions, such as universities and hospitals. Of that $35 billion, according to the announcement, $9 billion was allocated for “indirect costs” that cover expenses related to depreciation on buildings, equipment, capital improvements, interest on debt associated with certain buildings, and operations and maintenance expenses.

When a grant is awarded, an additional percentage, on top of the allocated research funding, goes to the facility housing their work to cover these “indirect costs.” According to the announcement, that percentage has historically been around 27 to 28% for each grant; however, the new directive is now imposing a 15% threshold, unless otherwise negotiated.

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A medical technologist in the molecular diagnostic lab extracts DNA from milk samples for testing at the Animal Health Diagnostic Center at Cornell University on Dec. 10, 2024 in Ithaca, New York. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

“Most private foundations that fund research provide substantially lower indirect costs than the federal government, and universities readily accept grants from these foundations. For example, a recent study found that the most common rate of indirect rate reimbursement by foundations was 0%, meaning many foundations do not fund indirect costs whatsoever,” NIH’s announcement, released Friday evening, stated. “In addition, many of the nation’s largest funders of research—such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation—have a maximum indirect rate of 15%. And in the case of the Gates Foundation, the maximum indirect costs rate is 10% for institutions of higher education.”

Some universities responded to the new indirect cost cap with confusion and backlash.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison put out a statement arguing the new indirect cost cap will “significantly disrupt vital research activity and daily life-saving discoveries.” It added that the move will also “have an inevitable impact on student opportunities to engage in research activities.”

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News of the cap on indirect costs associated with agency research grants came in a memo issued by the Office of the Director of the National Institute of Health.

At the University of Michigan, which currently has a negotiated indirect cost rate with the federal government of 56%, the school put out a statement emphasizing the “great deal of uncertainty” over how the policy will be implemented. The school said it has begun investigating the implications of this new rule on its current grants.

“It seems like it is of a piece with the sort of slash-and-burn philosophy of the current administration,” Dr. Francis P. Wilson, a Yale associate professor of medicine and public health, told the Yale Daily News. “It feels indiscriminate and abrupt, executed with little regard for the potential downstream consequences.”

The Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk, applauded the move in a post on social media. “Amazing job by the NIH team,” the group said in a post on social media. “Saved > $4B annually in excessive grant administrative costs.”

The National Institutes of Health under President Donald Trump put a cap on indirect costs associated with agency research grants, as part of a wider move to reduce wasteful government spending. (Alamy/Getty Images)

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“Can you believe that universities with tens of billions in endowments were siphoning off 60% of research award money for ‘overhead’?” Musk also posted on social media. “What a ripoff!”

“Contrary to the hysteria, redirecting billions of allocated NIH spending away from administrative bloat means there will be more money and resources available for legitimate scientific research, not less,” added White House spokesperson Kush Desai in an emailed statement to reporters.

Fox News Digital reached out directly to the NIH for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.

February 10, 2025
Sec. Noem says Homeland Security will freeze grants to non-governmental organizations

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced Wednesday the department has stopped all grant funding to nonprofits that operate outside of government control, saying they have been “perverted into a shadow government” that feeds illegal immigration.

Noem said some non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which receive millions in federal grants, have been facilitating illegal immigration by helping aliens cross the U.S. border.

“Many of these NGOs actually have infrastructure and operations set up in Mexico, on that side of the border, and are telling those illegal immigrants to come to them, and they will get them across the border,” Noem said on Fox News Channel’s Will Cain Show. “So they’re not just operating in the United States, they’re operating outside the United States to help make it easier for those who want to break our laws.”

Homeland Security Kristi Noem joins an ICE raid in New York City on Tuesday. Noem said communities will be safer because of targeted raids that go after criminal illegal immigrants. (Department of Homeland Security)

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The first step to curbing the issue is to freeze the funds, reevaluate them, and make sure taxpayer dollars are going toward safe causes, she said.

“I think people are curious [to see how] grants that are given out by federal agencies [are] utilized,” Noem said.

Until an evaluation is completed, Noem said the department is “not spending another dime to help the destruction of this country.”

This photo shows migrants at the southern border encountered in Arizona. (U.S. Border Patrol)

She added not all NGOs are what they appear to be, and some could be a risk to national security.

“When somebody said NGO to me, I thought that [was] a nonprofit telling somebody about Jesus or spreading faith and salvation…,” Noem said. “Then I realized over the years, it’s been perverted into this shadow government.”

Noem explained that NGOs create an entity to use taxpayer dollars, funding an operation the federal government cannot legally implement itself.

TRUMP-ERA SOUTHERN BORDER SEES MIGRANT ENCOUNTERS PLUMMET BY OVER 60% AS NEW POLICIES KICK IN

Recently, she said they have been used to undermine the country’s national security.

Approximately 1.5 million NGOs operate in the U.S., according to the U.S. Department of State.

A sign is posted at the U.S. Border Patrol station where lawyers reported that detained migrant children had been held unbathed and hungry on June 26, 2019, in Clint, Texas. Nearly 100 children were sent back to the troubled facility yesterday after it had been cleared of 249 children just days earlier. Acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) John Sanders submitted his resignation in the wake of the scandal. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

NGOs can range from political advocacy groups, to religious volunteer organizations or labor unions.

There are no laws prohibiting foreign funding of NGOs, whether that be from other governments or non-government sources, according to the State Department.

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In 2024, the U.S. spent more than $380 million on sheltering and service programs for illegal immigrants.

Alexandra Koch is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital. Prior to joining Fox News, Alexandra covered breaking news, crime, religion, and the military in the southeast.

January 29, 2025
Trump admin goes on memo blitz to agency chiefs ordering pause to federal grants, return to office details

The Trump administration’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) went on a memo blitz Monday, sending at least three letters to federal agency leaders on directives stretching from return to office instructions to pausing federal grants, copies of the memos obtained by Fox News Digital show.

President Donald Trump’s administration already has issued a handful of directives aimed at federal agency heads since he took office Jan. 20, including ordering agency chiefs to shutter diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) offices, which was followed by another memo to begin terminating DEI chiefs.

On Monday, the OMB, an executive office that evaluates agency programs and handles the president’s budget, and OPM, an independent agency that serves as the federal government’s human resources department, issued memos on Monday to further move federal agencies in line with the president’s vision of government.

TRUMP ADMIN TO PAUSE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS: REPORT

Then-former President Donald Trump arrives at an election night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Evan Vucci/AP)

Return to office plans

A joint OMB and OPM memo sent Monday regarding return to office plans outlined that agency heads have until Feb. 7 to provide a plan on returning staff schedules to full-time in-person work.

Agencies must “prepare plans to expeditiously implement” the memo and submit their plans “for review and approval by no later than Friday, February 7th at 5:00pm EST,” the memo, obtained by Fox News Digital, states.

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The directive, addressed to “heads of executive departments and agencies,” detailed that agency chiefs must craft plans that include details such as how they will “revise telework agreements for all eligible employees,” as well as “provide timelines for the return of all eligible employees to in-person work as expeditiously as possible, including the date that the agency will be in full compliance,” and “describe agency’s process for determining exceptions based on disability, qualifying medical condition, and or other compelling reason.”

Both the acting director of OMB, Matthew J. Vaeth, and OPM acting director, Charles Ezell, issued the memo.

The directive comes after Trump railed against federal employees working from home years after the pandemic and social distancing mandates ended. On his first day in office, Trump issued a presidential action calling on federal agencies to terminate remote work.

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Executive branch department and agency heads “shall, as soon as practicable, take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis, provided that the department and agency heads shall make exemptions they deem necessary,” the Jan. 20 presidential action read.

Pausing federal grants and loans in effort to end ‘wokeness’

The OMB issued another memo on Monday that pauses all federal grants and loans, out of an effort to end “‘wokeness’ and the weaponization of government,” and to promote “efficiency in government.”

“Federal agencies must temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance, and other relevant agency activities that may be implicated by the executive orders, including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal,” the memo, obtained by Fox Digital reads.

The pause takes effect at 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

The memo explained that out of the $10 trillion spent by the federal government in fiscal year 2024, $3 trillion was allocated to “federal financial assistance, such as grants and loans.”

“Career and political appointees in the Executive Branch have a duty to align Federal spending and action with the will of the American people as expressed through Presidential priorities,” the memo states. “Financial assistance should be dedicated to advancing Administration priorities, focusing taxpayer dollars to advance a stronger and safer America, eliminating the financial burden of inflation for citizens, unleashing American energy and manufacturing, ending ‘wokeness’ and the weaponization of government, promoting efficiency in government, and Making America Healthy Again.”

The memo was sent to all heads of executive departments and agencies by Vaeth.

“The use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve,” it adds.

Agency chiefs are required to submit “detailed information on any programs, projects or activities subject to this pause” to the OMB by Feb. 10 for review.

New federal employee classification

Agency leaders were directed in another memo sent Monday by OPM to review government positions that could be moved to the Trump administration’s new “schedule policy/career” federal employee classification.

Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office focused on federal employees who hold sway over policy decisions, as part of an effort to “maintain professionalism and accountability within the civil service,” which Trump’s order said was “sorely lacking.”

The executive order created a new “schedule policy/career” federal employee classification, which will work to remove civil protections from federal employees in “policy-influencing” positions, making the individuals more vulnerable for termination.

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Then-former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Uniondale, New York on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital)

Trump’s executive order creates a new classification “for positions that are of a confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy- advocating character (policy-influencing positions) and filled by individuals not normally subject to replacement or change as a result of a Presidential transition. Such career positions will be rescheduled into Schedule Policy/Career,” the memo stated.

The memo states that agency leaders have until April 20 to craft a plan on positions that would shift to the new classification. The 90-day period for review began on Jan. 20, when Trump signed the executive order.

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“Agencies have 90 days to conduct a preliminary review of positions and submit petitions, with an additional 120 days to finalize their review and submit any remaining petitions,” the memo reads. “Agencies may, and are encouraged to, submit such petitions on a rolling basis.”

January 28, 2025
FTC grants chairman authority to comply with Trump’s orders on DEI programs

OpenTheBooks’ CEO John Hart discusses how billions of taxpayer dollars are wasted over DEI measures on ‘The Bottom Line.’

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Thursday granted Chairman Andrew Ferguson the authority needed to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive orders slashing DEI programs in federal agencies.

The move comes after Ferguson on Wednesday denounced DEI, or diversity, equity, and inclusion, programs as “a scourge on our institutions.”

“President Trump promised the American people that he would end it. He has done so in three amazing executive orders,” Ferguson wrote on X. “Under my leadership, the FTC is doing its part to end the DEI plague. We are done with DEI at the FTC. No DEI office, no DEI influence on hiring, no DEI programming. It is over.”

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FTC Commissioner Andrew Ferguson was tapped to chair the FTC last month. (Screenshot/Federal Trade Commission / Fox News)

That same day, Ferguson laid out a series of actions to purge the FTC of DEI-related initiatives at the FTC. Since some of these would require Commission votes to end, Ferguson said the Commission would be considering a motion to grant him the authority to bring the federal agency into compliance with the president’s orders.

President Donald Trump signs a series of executive orders at the White House on January 20, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Jabin Botsford /The Washington Post via Getty Images / Getty Images)

On Thursday, the FTC approved the motion by a vote of 2-1-2, giving Chairman Ferguson the necessary authority to do just that. Commissioners Rebecca K. Slaughter and Lina M. Khan did not participate in the vote.

The FTC is merely one of many federal agencies being purged of DEI-related programs after President Donald Trump retook the White House this week.

Trump signed an executive order on Monday to eliminate all DEI programs from the federal government.

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US President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address after being sworn in as the 47th President of the United States in the Rotunda of the US Capitol on January 20, 2025, in Washington, DC. (CHIP SOMODEVILLA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Trump 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.

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Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

January 24, 2025