Tuesday, August 4, 2026

Inside the federal keyword lists that canceled billions in research funding - Laura Spitalniak, Higher Ed Dive

In court documents, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and others shared which words they used to target grants. Those court documents offer insight into how the Trump administration undertook a swift campaign to revoke research funding for work related to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and other subjects at odds with its political agenda. Federal agencies relied heavily on keyword searches when terminating grants held by UC researchers, court documents revealed. While the searched terms varied across agencies, they focused on initiatives facing significant conservative opposition, such as DEI and green energy.