DOGE ends nearly $1 billion in grants for DEI and other waste at Department of Education
President Donald Trump predicted late last week that Elon Musk would find "a lot" of mismanagement at the Department of Education.
His prediction was recently vindicated, as the entity which Musk leads has announced the elimination of nearly $1 billion in waste.
Twenty-nine grants tied to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs
According to Breitbart, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) revealed in a social media post on Wednesday that some 29 grants are coming to an end.
Today, the Department of Education terminated 29 DEI training grants totaling $101mm.
One sought to train teachers to “help students understand / interrogate the complex histories involved in oppression, and help students recognize areas of privilege and power on an individual…
— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) February 11, 2025
It explained that the grants in question were for diversity, equity, and inclusion programs (DEI) programs at the Department of Education worth $101 million.
The post noted that one program "sought to train teachers to 'help students understand / interrogate the complex histories involved in oppression, and help students recognize areas of privilege and power on an individual and collective basis.'"
Musk later drew attention to the absurdity of the expenditure on his personal X account, writing, "Your tax dollars were spent on this."
Contractor was paid $1.5 million to "observe mailing and clerical operations"
That news was followed by another post which heralded the termination of an additional 89 Department of Education contracts amounting to $881 million.
DOGE pointed out how in one instance, a "contractor was paid $1.5 million to 'observe mailing and clerical operations' at a mail center."
Those changes were welcomed by supporters online, including Nicki Neily, who is founder and president of the conservative group Parents Defending Education (PDE).
"DEI was never about 'equity'—it was about enforcing ideological conformity and institutionalizing discrimination," Neily declared.
Congressional committee says DEI programs "should never have existed"
The House Committee on Education and Workforce sounded a similar note, asserting, "These programs should never have existed."
"We should be teaching students to think critically, not brainwashing them to view the entire world in the oppressor-oppressed matrix the Left is obsessed with," the committee stressed.
For his part, President Trump has targeted DEI programs with an executive order which decried them as an "immense public waste" which promotes "shameful discrimination."