Musk to shift focus from DOGE to Tesla after profits plunge
Elon Musk told investors he will refocus on Tesla and begin scaling back his involvement with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in May.
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WASHINGTON – Approximately 700 scientific research projects funded through the National Science Foundation were canceled on April 25 amid scrutiny from President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency.
It came the day after the agency’s director, Sethuraman Panchanathan, abruptly resigned from his position, and a week after the agency cut another 400 grants touted by the Department of Government Efficiency as “wasteful DEI” funding. Panchanathan was appointed to the lead the agency that funds non-medical scientific research during Trump’s first term.
Several of the canceled grants align with a 2024 report published by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz identifying projects he argued had been “politicized,” according to a public list of canceled grants maintained by researchers at science nonprofit rOpenSci and Harvard University.
Among those were projects to develop an after-school program for “rural, Latinx youth” and to study online STEM learning by girls.
It also cut grants that were not included in Cruz’s report, like ones that would build a program for computer science students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), to make scientific conferences more accessible for people in rural areas or at small institutions, or to create a tool to identify deepfakes created by artificial intelligence.
Last week, DOGE staffers showed up at the NSF headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia, multiple NSF employees told USA TODAY.
A few days later, the agency announced it would adjust its priorities to eliminate awards “with more narrow impact limited to subgroups of people based on protected class or characteristics,” including those related to “diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and misinformation/disinformation.”
The same day, it announced more than 400 grants would be eliminated.
On April 25, NSF sent out an additional memo to staff announcing a pause in “supplemental awards,” according to a copy of the memo obtained by USA TODAY, which provide additional funding to projects in the case of unforeseen expenses.
The administration reportedly told agency leaders that Trump would be seeking a 55% cut to the agency’s budget and the elimination of half of its staff.
Another memo sent to staff on April 24 and reviewed by USA TODAY offered a new deferred resignation program and warned that the agency “may be expected to make significant workforce reductions.”
The rapid changes have surprised and destabilized staff at the agency, which funds basic scientific research that can become the foundation for widely used technology like artificial intelligence, 3D printing, LASIK eye surgery, MRIs, and semiconductors.
One NSF employee granted anonymity to discuss changes at the agency said they are worried that the elimination of grants could jeopardize the United States’ position as a global scientific leader amid intense competition with China.
The NSF did not respond to a request for comment. DOGE praised the changes in a post on X as “great work.”
The DOGE efforts to slash “waste and fraud” from the federal government, led by Trump ally Elon Musk, has swept through multiple agencies since Trump returned to office in January, eliminating contracts and leases and, in some cases, all but eliminated entire agencies.
Musk claims the project has saved $160 billion to date as he prepares to step away from the administration. As recently as late March, Musk claimed he would save $1 trillion.