NSF cancels over 400 grants covering disinformation, deepfakes and STEM education

Around 430 federally-funded research grants covering topics like deepfake detection, artificial intelligence advancement and the empowerment of marginalized groups in scientific fields were among several projects terminated in recent days following a major realignment in research priorities at the National Science Foundation.

Other cancelled grants included nearly two dozen projects devoted to disinformation research, election security, cyber-physical systems protection and the CyberCorps scholarship program, according to a spreadsheet obtained by Nextgov/FCW.

In total, around $328 million worth of grants, many of them issued to major American universities, were canceled. The mass cancellation and realignment of NSF’s grant priorities coincided with the arrival of officials from the Department of Government Efficiency, who have been present at the agency since April 14, according to six people familiar with the matter. 

The grounds for their terminations hinged on the research subject. Many of the grants were centered on improving STEM education and access for minority and underserved students, among a myriad of other topics that dovetail into diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, which have been vilified by the Trump White House.

NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan said last week that the science and engineering research agency would no longer “support research with the goal of combating ‘misinformation,’ ‘disinformation,’ and ‘malinformation’ that could be used to infringe on the constitutionally protected speech rights” of Americans.

The reconfiguration also follows concerted efforts at agencies like the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to reassess the role that the government should play in flagging false information online.

Multiple people told Nextgov/FCW that DOGE's presence at NSF was the driving force behind the en masse grant terminations and the broad shift in agency research priorities.

“We hear reports that DOGE is the instigator and certainly the temporal coincidence of their arrival and the subsequent termination certainly lends plausibility to that,” one source said. 

Normally, in the event that a grant needs to be reviewed, NSF program officers evaluate the project, with a final determination made by the agency’s Division of Grants and Agreements. In the event of a termination of funding already awarded, another review process is initiated to find evidence that the project isn’t complying to relevant terms and conditions, which includes an option for the awardees to appeal the decision. It is this process that sources say is being undermined as awards are subjected to new scrutiny.

Another source, granted anonymity to discuss the agency freely, described the mass grant terminations as “unprecedented.”

“This is all opaque to us,” they said. “We don’t know who the individuals are that are calling shots. Now, it's as though the foundation has been hijacked.”

Representatives from Local 3403 branch of the American Federation of Government Employees union echoed these sentiments, telling Nextgov/FCW that the lack of transparency surrounding funding cancellation leaves both internal NSF officers and the general public confused. 

“Awards were terminated with no visibility — for the American people or the NSF program and grant officers managing the grants,” a release from AFGE Local 3403 said. On Monday, that local also said that it had learned of DOGE’s plans to remove the terminated awards from the NSF database altogether. 

Other sources with knowledge of agency activity have questioned the legality of the award cancellations, since many of them were funded during prior administrations with a legitimate — albeit different — set of priorities. 

“The basis of canceling is just dubious,” another source told Nextgov/FCW. “Especially since NSF has statutory authority to broaden participation in science.” 

The NSF declined to comment. 

DOGE took to its website in support of NSF’s “great work,” saying it cancelled 402 wasteful grants that amounted to $233 million in savings.

“Grant awards will be based on merit, competition, equal opportunity, and excellence,” according to a post on the DOGE website.

Beyond the legality of the award terminations, sources familiar with the NSF’s updated guidance noted the contradiction in cancelling awards that still fit into the agency’s new priorities, namely expanding access to STEM education. 

“They're taking a wrecking ball to everything, and it should ring alarm bells in the community,” the source said. “It boggles my mind how they’re doing this.”