A watchdog group focused on getting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) out of medicine found that the National Cancer Institute (NCI) is actively spending millions of grant dollars to boost the number of racial minorities in the cancer workforce.
This funding, uncovered by the nonprofit watchdog Do No Harm, shows that $218 million in NCI grants for ‘underrepresented’ groups – mainly racial minorities – is actively dispersed by the NCI. Prior to President Donald Trump taking office, during the Biden administration, around 3% of the NCI’s total grant funding every year went to institutions so that they can hire more faculty members and scientists who are minorities, according to Do No Harm.
The revelation comes as Elon Musk’s DOGE puts a slew of funds related to DEI on the chopping block amid efforts to slim down government spending. Trump and fellow Republicans have pushed hard against DEI policies throughout the government in recent weeks, making the case that public programs should instead focus on meritocracy.
Among the NCI’s DEI grants that remain active under Trump are two totaling more than $10.5 million, awarded to the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. These grants support hiring initiatives aimed at ‘inclusive excellence’ and programs that promote advancing the careers of racial minorities.
One of the grant’s descriptions explicitly calls for the recruitment of 12 scientists from ‘underrepresented groups,’ while the other grant’s description includes, alongside its recruitment and hiring goals, a plan to ‘modify the Mount Sinai Health System Task Force To Address Racism Roadmap for Change with key strategies as the basis for an Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Roadmap for Inclusive Excellence.’
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Do No Harm Chairman Dr. Stanley Goldfarb said the NCI must ‘stop promoting a politically motivated DEI agenda.’
‘The National Cancer Institute has been taking advantage of taxpayers to push a DEI agenda on the medical field,’ Goldfarb said. ‘They dole out $218 million each year for grants prioritizing ‘underrepresented’ in medicine, which has generally been defined as anyone from a racial minority group, except Asian Americans. The National Cancer Institute should not be rewarding racial discrimination with taxpayer money. Racial discrimination has no place in medicine.’
Under former President Joe Biden, the NCI’s website was filled with statements and sources about programs tied to DEI, but, following Trump’s executive order demanding an end to DEI in the federal government, much of that has come down. Fox News Digital reached out to the NCI to question whether it had any plans to terminate any of its active grants promoting DEI hiring, but did not receive a response by press time.
Fox News Digital also inquired about the sub-agency’s Equity Council, established in 2021 under Biden, but did not receive a response. The council is a steering committee for the NCI’s equity and inclusion efforts.
DOGE claims it has already addressed hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars in DEI-related contract cuts, including $350 million at the Department of Education.
Last month, DOGE announced that taxpayers would see just over $1 billion in savings through the elimination of 104 DEI contracts.
