EPA Scraps $1.7 Billion Worth Of DEI And Environmental Justice Grants

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin took to social media Monday to announce the cancellation of over 400 diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI), and environmental justice grants.

Zeldin posted on X, previously known as Twitter, to declare the termination of these initiatives. The cuts span across nine grant programs, amassing a total of $1.7 billion in savings. This move by the EPA brings the agency’s total savings to over $2 billion.

“I am cancelling over 400 DEI and Environmental Justice grants across 9 grant programs totaling $1.7 BILLION, bringing @EPA’s total savings to over $2 BILLION,” Zeldin wrote. “This fourth round of EPA/@DOGE cuts was our biggest yet.”

WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 18: EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin speaks to press during a Water Policy Announcement at the Environmental Protection Agency Headquarters on February 18, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

Since the beginning of his second term, President Donald Trump initiated a significant reduction of DEI initiatives in American schools and federal agencies. Trump enacted an executive order on January 20 to eliminate what he described as “wasteful” and “radical” diversity efforts, calling these programs as “immoral” in the order itself. (RELATED: Lee Zeldin Shares Most Egregious Thing He Found That Biden Admin Left Behind At EPA)

Parents Defending Education released a report in December revealing that over $1 billion was squandered by the Department of Education on DEI grants for K-12 schools under the previous administration. Amid declining student performance, the government allocated substantial funds to ideological recruitment and indoctrination, including nearly $490 million on race-based recruitment and training, $343 million on DEI programming and youth activism, and $169 million on DEI mental health training.

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced on X in February that it had terminated 89 contracts worth $881 million but did not specify which agreements were cut. In a separate post, the agency confirmed the termination of 29 DEI training grants totaling $101 million.

Days later, DOGE announced $600 million in cuts to DEI training programs for teachers. Canceled initiatives included programs that promoted taking “personal and institutional responsibility for systemic inequities” and training educators to challenge perceived racial bias.

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