Biden-Harris Administration Requires ‘Corrupt’ DEI as ‘Ideological Litmus Test’ for NASA Innovation Funding, Scientists Say

The Biden-Harris administration has conditioned funding for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on promoting science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) research based on “diversity statements” and equity requirements, a measure that researchers are calling a “politicized litmus test.”

From day one, the Biden-Harris administration has announced that it will overhaul every agency in line with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) ideals, and it has ensured that there are DEI bureaucracies that regularly impose its agenda.

According to the researchers who spoke to Fox News Digital, the DEI mission not only influenced training, internal policies and hiring, but also how federal agencies selectively funded and developed research. They added that DEI mandates pose a national security risk because they undermine America’s competitive advantage over adversaries.

“It’s a very, very bad idea. It’s corrupt and corrupting,” Princeton professor Robert George told Fox News Digital, adding that the DEI agenda “came in like a storm.”

Biden ties NASA innovation funding to ‘corrupt’ diversity claims. (Fox News Digital-Hannah Grossman | Getty)

“Our science has to be the best in the world,” he said. “If we can’t defend ourselves and stop this kind of aggression (from our adversaries), we’re going to get hurt badly, badly. Our people are going to get hurt badly.”

Those inclusion plans will then be evaluated, according to Amanda L. Nahm, a program officer in NASA’s Planetary Science Division. She said proposals that don’t have an “inclusion” program won’t be considered because they are “non-compliant proposals.”

When asked about the consequences of filling out a declaration of refusal, she replied that it “would not be well considered”, but added that it would not affect the scientist’s legitimacy in receiving funding.

“At their core, the inclusivity plans are intended to raise awareness of the barriers that impede the creation and maintenance of positive, inclusive work environments and to encourage applicants to actively think about ways to support inclusive practices within their research teams,” Nahm said.

In a slide from the Science Mission Directorate (SMD), reviewed by Fox News Digital, it is emphasized that “Inclusivity is a core NASA value, and SMD is committed to fostering a more diverse and inclusive community.”

DEI-inspired statements required researchers to “address ways in which the research team will work to weaken or reduce these barriers.”

It also recommended hiring diversity consultants to “advise the team on proposed… actions (also consider providing them with appropriate compensation!)”.

Renowned chemist Anna Krylovat of the University of Southern California told Fox News Digital: “This is not a culture war. This is a war for our future. If we do not divorce ourselves from this practice, the consequences for everyone will be very grim.”

Krylovat comes from Soviet Russia and attributes the communist country’s loss of the Cold War to its politicization of science. For example, researchers would be forced to join communist clubs and have “completely pure devotion to the “Communist Party” in order to obtain funds and advancement.

NASA launches ‘Mission Equity’ after Biden issues first executive order (Fox News Digital-Hannah Grossman)

“The end result was that Russia ultimately lost the Cold War and is now an economic and technological backwater,” she said. “If you look at how ineffective the Soviet space program was, it’s mind-boggling. It was ineffective because things weren’t being done by a meritocracy.”

In 2021, Biden signed an executive order titled “Equity and Excellence: A Vision to Transform and Strengthen the U.S. STEMM Ecosystem.” He promised to radically change how STEMM is funded to ensure “science and technology encompasses and benefits all of America.”

“(I)t is a task that requires coordinated action. This work is urgent,” the ad reads. “(T)he Nation will seize opportunities for change and create a STEMM ecosystem that is… more equitable.”

Under that executive order, agencies like the Department of Energy, NASA, and the National Institutes of Health prioritized DEI over the scientific merits of research, according to George and his colleagues. They went so far as to say that the agencies played politics by conditioning funding.

Professors George and Krylovat, along with other faculty members, signed a letter from the Academic Freedom Alliance in July demanding an end to the tests known as DEI (Deep Initiative, Integration, Integration, Integration).

NASA has been contacted for comment and the agency released a statement to Fox News Digital.

“Inclusion is one of NASA’s core values. It enables the agency to access the broad range of people, talent, ideas and resources it needs to successfully accomplish its challenging missions,” the agency said in a statement.

It went on to explain that “some NASA science research opportunities are piloting the addition of a required integration plan to help maintain positive, inclusive work environments within applicant teams and support the full participation and contribution of team members.”

“Inclusion plans are assessed against established criteria, and applicants are provided with feedback; however, the assessment of the inclusion plan does not affect the assessment of the scientific merit of the proposal or its chances of being selected. Applicants may request funding to hire consultants with knowledge of best practices in inclusion as part of the inclusion plan, but this is not a requirement. Inclusion plans do not take into account the diversity or demographic composition of the team, and such information is not assessed if it is included.”

SECRET SERVICE EQUITY DIRECTOR SAYS DEI PROGRAM IS ‘MISSION NECESSITY,’ ‘THE MOST IMPORTANT GOAL’

Starliner, a Boeing spacecraft built as part of a public-private partnership with NASA, will launch for the first time with a crew on June 5, 2024. (NASA/YouTube)

Krylov said Department of Energy scientists must disclose how their research will advance DEI.

In addition to statements about diversity, she said senior researchers feel they are expected not to hire the best and the brightest, but to hire a team based on equality – race, gender and sexual orientation.

Former Harvard Medical School dean Dr. Jeffrey S. Flier also spoke out about the “diversity statements” in July, which he dismissed as “an implicit expectation of stated allegiance to a politicized litmus test that is in reality a forced speech on a controversial topic that violates academic freedom.”

“DEI has gradually morphed … into 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 justifiable nor legal under current civil rights and labor laws.”

PENTAGON EQUITY CHIEF PRAISES BOOK THAT CALLS 9/11 FIRST RESPONDERS ‘THREATS’ AND ITS CALL FOR ‘REVOLUTION’

The federal government has been accused of putting DEI above scientific progress. (Fox News Digital-Hannah Grossman)

Biden’s mandate follows his first order to promote racial equity across every agency, a move that critics derided as undermining America’s competitive advantage. A review of the Defense Department’s 2022-23 DEI strategic plan, for example, shows that it promises to ensure “equity” among its suppliers.

“DoD will ensure that its external relationships, such as those with DoD suppliers or community partners, are fair and equitable to all groups, to the extent permitted by law,” the plan states. To help achieve this goal, DoD will use a broad range of mechanisms, such as procurement frameworks and DoD programs, to enhance the representation of underserved communities in the Department’s external engagements, to the extent permitted by law.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP