DOGE Eliminates over $100M in DEI Funding at Department of Education

The Department of Education (DOE) slashed 29 diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training grants totaling $101 million as part of the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) mission to eliminate wasteful spending within the federal government.

DOGE, which is led by Elon Musk, announced the DOE’s elimination of the DEI training grants along with the termination of nearly $1 billion in contracts.

One of the 29 DEI training grants sought 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,” according to DOGE. 

The DOE is eliminating 89 contracts worth $881 million in taxpayer dollars, according to DOGE. The department cited how one contractor was paid $1.5 million just to “observe mailing and clerical operations” at a mail center.

“Your tax dollars were spent on this,” Elon Musk posted in response on X. 

“DEI was never about ‘equity’ — it was about enforcing ideological conformity and institutionalizing discrimination,” Founder and President of Parents Defending Education (PDE) Nicki Neily reacted. “Shutting down these wasteful, divisive programs is a win for every student. More states need to follow suit.”

“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 House Committee of Education and Workforce said. “These programs should never have existed.”

“The kids can’t read,” said Erika Donalds, wife to Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) and chair of the Center for Education Opportunity at America First Policy Institute.

RELATED: The Nation’s Report Card for U.S. Students Shows Continued Learning Losses Since Pandemic

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office aimed at ending DEI programs in the federal workforce.

“The public release of these plans demonstrated immense public waste and shameful discrimination,” the order reads. “That ends today.”

“Americans deserve a government committed to serving every person with equal dignity and respect, and to expending precious taxpayer resources only on making America great,” it continues.

Three days into Trump’s second term, the DOE announced that it was moving to eliminate DEI initiatives in the hopes of aligning with Trump’s agenda to “end illegal discrimination and wasteful spending across the federal government.”

Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.