1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

I am writing to express grave concern regarding the recent executive order that placed numerous federal research grants under review for DEI components. Although the “pause” in federal funding was reversed, the administrative review of grants continues, with the threat of pulled funding. This sudden action is causing immediate and severe disruption to vital research programs across California. Let me illustrate the human cost: among my grant-supported staff is a PhD researcher and mother of two who develops essential science education curriculum, a promising postdoctoral scholar conducting innovative research on improving science education, and a single mother of two who has provided vital support to these grants over many years. These dedicated professionals, like thousands of others across the country, now face potential job loss due to this abrupt policy change. In addition, the current situation creates an untenable paradox. Researchers spent hundreds of hours crafting grant proposals in direct response to federal Requests for Proposals (RFPs) that explicitly required addressing DEI considerations. It is fundamentally unfair to penalize researchers for including elements that were mandatory components of the original grant requirements. Furthermore, federal research grants represent contractual agreements between the government and research institutions. The arbitrary termination of these contracts midstream would result in the waste of billions of taxpayer dollars as experiments halted mid-course would yield unusable data. This policy threatens to undermine America's position as a global leader in research and innovation. I urge you to take immediate action to: 1. Protect existing grant agreements from retroactive policy changes. 2. Ensure that research projects currently underway can continue to completion. 3. Establish clear, consistent guidelines for future grant reviews that respect existing contractual obligations.