The Biden-Harris administration has been conditioning funding at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to advance research in Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, and Medicine (STEMM) on "diversity statements" and equity requirements in what academics are calling a "politicized litmus test."
From day one, the Biden-Harris administration announced it would overhaul every single agency with the ideals of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). It ensured there were DEI bureaucracies in place to impose its agendas regularly.
Not only did the DEI mission affect training, internal policies and hiring, but how federal agencies selectively funded and advanced scientific research, according to academics who spoke to Fox News Digital. They added that the DEI mandates are a risk to national security as it depletes America's competitive edge against adversaries.
"This is a very, very bad idea. It's corrupt, and it is corrupting," Princeton professor Robert George told Fox News Digital, adding the DEI agenda "came on like gangbusters."
"Our science has to be the best in the world," he said. "If we are not in a position to defend ourselves and to deter that kind of aggression [from adversaries], we're going to be very, very badly harmed. Our people are going to be very, very badly harmed."
Those inclusion plans would then be scored, according to NASA's Amanda L. Nahm, a program officer in the Planetary Science Division. She said that proposals which do not have the "inclusion" agenda will not be considered because they are "non-compliant proposals."
When asked about the consequences of filling out a statement of refusal, she said, "it would not be reviewed well," but then added that it wouldn't affect the scientist's merits of being given funds.
"At their core, inclusion plans are designed to raise awareness of barriers to creating and sustaining positive, inclusive working environments and to get proposers actively thinking about ways to foster inclusive practices for their research teams," Nahm said.
A slidedeck of the Science Mission Directorate (SMD), reviewed by Fox News Digital, stressed that "Inclusion is a core NASA value and SMD is committed to fostering a more diverse and inclusive community."
The DEI-inspired statements required scientists to "address ways in which the investigation team will work to attenuate or reduce these barriers."
It also recommended they hire diversity consultants to "advise the team on the proposed… activities (consider paying them well, too!)."
Renowned chemist Anna Krylovat of the University of Southern California told Fox News Digital, "It's not cultural war. It's a war for our future. Unless we divorce this practice, the consequences for everyone will be very grim."
Krylovat hails from Soviet Russia and attributes the communist country losing the Cold War to its politicizing science. For example, researchers would be forced to join communist clubs and to have "perfectly clean allegiance to [the] Communist Party" in order to get funded and promoted.
"The consequences ultimately was that Russia ultimately lost the Cold War and is now an economic and technological backwater," she said. "If you look at how, ineffective Soviet space program was, it's mind-boggling. It was ineffective because the things were not done by meritocracy."
In 2021, Biden signed an executive order titled "Equity and Excellence: A Vision to Transform and Enhance the U.S. STEMM Ecosystem." It promised to radically shift the way STEMM is funded to ensure that "science and technology both includes and benefits all of America."
"[I]t is a task that requires concerted action. This work is urgent," the announcement said. "[T]he Nation will seize opportunities for change, and cultivate a STEMM ecosystem that is… more equitable."
Under this executive order, agencies such as the Department of Energy, NASA and the National Institutes of Health prioritized DEI agendas in place of the scientific merits of the research, according to George and his colleagues. They go as far as alleging the agencies have been playing politics in conditioning the funding.
Professors George and Krylovat as well as other academics signed a letter in July from the Academic Freedom Alliance demanding an end to what they deem DEI screening tests.
NASA was contacted for comment and released a statement to Fox News Digital.
"Inclusion is one of NASA’s core values, to enable the agency to access the wide variety of people, talent, ideas, and resources it needs to successfully accomplish its challenging missions," the agency said.
It went onto explain that "Some NASA science research opportunities are piloting the addition of a required inclusion plan, to help sustain positive, inclusive working environments on proposal teams and support the full participation and contribution of team members."
"Inclusion plans are evaluated against established criteria, and feedback is provided to proposers; however, the evaluation of the inclusion plan has no impact on the assessment of the proposal’s scientific merit or the odds of its selection. As part of their inclusion plan, proposers may request funds to hire consultants familiar with inclusion best practices, but this is not a requirement. Inclusion plans do not address the diversity or demographic makeup of a team, and such information is not evaluated if included."
SECRET SERVICE EQUITY DIRECTOR SAYS DEI AGENDA IS A 'MISSION IMPERATIVE,' THE 'ULTIMATE GOAL'
At the Department of Energy, Krylov said researchers must disclose how their scientific research will advance DEI.
In addition to diversity statements, she said senior investigators feel they face expectations that they will bring on, not the best and brightest, but a team based on equity – race, gender and sexual orientation.
The former dean of Harvard Medical School, Dr. Jeffrey S. Flier, has also spoken out about the "diversity statements" in July, which he deemed "an implicit expectation of expressed allegiance to a politicized litmus test that is, in effect, compelled speech on a controversial issue in violation of academic freedom."
"DEI has gradually morphed… to promoting increasingly ideological and politicized goals that include participation and outcomes for groups based on criteria such as racial and sexual identity that are proportional to their representation in the population," he continued. "This approach is neither morally justified nor legal under existing civil rights employment law."
Biden's mandate followed his day-one order to advance racial equity at every agency, which has been derided by critics for softening America's competitive edge. A review of Department of Defense's 2022-2023 DEI strategic plan, for example, shows that it promises to ensure "equity" among its vendors.
"DoD will ensure its external relationships, such as those with DoD vendors or community partners, are fair and equitable for all groups, to the extent permitted by law," the plan said. To help accomplish this, DoD will use a wide array of mechanisms, such as procurement structures and DoD programs, to bolster the representation of underserved communities in the Department’s external endeavors, to the extent permitted by law."
