The Trump admin is dead set on rooting out the Deep State. They’ve found corruption at nearly every corner.
And Trump’s Health Secretary takes an axe to the Deep State with these latest cuts.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has terminated roughly $122 million in grants, citing their misalignment with taxpayer priorities, per the New York Post. These funds, spread across 195 research projects, were deemed overly focused on specific demographic issues, particularly those tied to LGBT topics and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts.
The canceled grants, many of which were partially distributed or spanned multiple years, underwent scrutiny by the Trump administration for their narrow focus on certain groups. Most terminations occurred in March through collaboration with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), with additional cuts as recent as August. Pinpointing exact savings is tricky due to the multi-year structure of the awards, but the move signals a shift toward research with wider public benefit.
One of the largest cuts targeted Vanderbilt University Medical Center, which lost $5.5 million from the National Cancer Institute for its “Vanderbilt FIRST” initiative. According to data examined by the New York Post, the project aimed to “recruit at least 18 tenure-track faculty from minoritized [sic] racial and ethnic groups.”
Despite Vanderbilt’s endowment topping $10 billion, the university claimed the funds were vital to “identify and eliminate organizational barriers that impede full participation, advancement, and thriving of racially diverse faculty in academia.”
Drexel University in Philadelphia faced a similar fate, losing over $4.6 million from the National Cancer Institute for its project “Catalyzing Systemic Change at Drexel University to Support Diverse Faculty in Health Disparities Research.” The initiative focused on “mentoring and supporting diverse early-stage faculty dedicated to health disparities research.”
The University of Virginia saw a $2.4 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health axed for research on “Neurodevelopmental Biomarkers of Late Diagnosis in Female and Gender Diverse Autism,” part of a $12 million endowment announced in 2022.
The University of Michigan also lost $1.1 million from the National Institute on Aging for a study on “Improving Inclusivity of Alzheimers [sic] Disease and Related Dementias Research for Asian Americans and Latinx through Nationally Representative Hybrid Sampling.”
Case Western University’s Clinical and Translational Science Collaborative of Northern Ohio Catalyzing Linkages to Equity in Health (CLE Health) was stripped of over $8 million. Its goal was to “understand[ing] the fundamental barriers to optimal recruitment of underrepresented groups in clinical trials and test and scale interventions aimed at breaking down these barriers.”
The University of California at San Francisco had $3.4 million revoked for its “Asian Americans & Racism: Individual and Structural Experiences (ARISE)” study, which examined racism’s impact on 1,500 Asian-American seniors. Researchers noted, “The scientific promise of ARISE is timely and necessary, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated anti-Asian racism.”
Smaller grants also faced cuts, spanning a range of topics. The University of Washington lost $208,000 for a study on “Adapting an Intervention to Reduce Intersectional Stigmas among Indigenous S*xual Minority Men and Traditional Healers in Mesoamerica,” aimed at “address[ing] intersectional stigmas experienced by Indigenous [g*y and bis*xual men] in Guatemala [with a goal of] increasing HIV testing, PrEP uptake, PrEP/ART adherence, and decreasing experiences of stigma and discrimination.”
Loyola Marymount University was denied $576,000 for research on the “Feasibility and Effectiveness of Gamified Digital Intervention to Prevent Alcohol and Mental Health Risks among S*xual Minority Women.” Boston Medical Center lost $31,691 for a study “[a]ssessing the burden of dementia in transgender populations.”
Other canceled projects included a $350,000 University of Minnesota study on “HPV Oropharyngeal cancer and screening in Gay and Bis*xual Men” and a $490,000 Ohio State University trial on “Randomized Controlled Trial of an HPV Vaccine Intervention for Young S*xual Minority Men.”
Rhode Island Hospital’s $275,000 study on “Integrated Alcohol and S*xual Assault Prevention for Bis*xual Women” was also cut, noting that bis*xual women “report higher rates of heavy episodic drinking compared to heteros*xual women, as well as higher rates of s*xual assault compared to heteros*xual or lesbian women.”
Columbia University lost $814,000 for a study examining “vicarious” discrimination’s impact on blood pressure among racial and s*xual minorities, described as “hearing/witnessing people like you being the target of discrimination,” while assessing “moderators (e.g., social support, identity centrality).”
The cuts led to the resignation of Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, who cited disagreements with HHS leadership, particularly over the decision to “terminate key research to support equity.” This followed the firing of Dr. Susan Monarez, the Senate-confirmed director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
HHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Rich Danker defended the move, stating the data reflects that “under the Trump administration, the NIH’s medical research once again serves all Americans, and will no longer be co-opted for political agendas such as DEI.”
Stay tuned to The Federalist Wire.
