After President Donald Trump's second term began, researchers nationwide received notices that their federal grant funding was terminated, often mid‑project, citing misalignment with agency priorities. A lawsuit filed by University of California scholars revealed that agencies used keyword searches to cancel awards related to diversity, equity and inclusion and other topics.

The agencies involved—National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Department of Defense, and National Endowment for the Humanities—relied on lists of terms derived from a 2024 Texas Senate report by Senator Ted Cruz, which alleged politicization of science. NSF used the most extensive list, which included words such as "injustice," "ally," "prejudice," "institutional," "discrimination," "historically," "minority," and "traumatic." NIH applied terms like "workforce diversity" and "health equity," while the Defense Department added "pay equity," "LGBTQ," "neurodiversity," and also targeted climate‑related terms including "solar," "wind," "geothermal," "climate change," "carbon neutrality," "decarbonization," "pollution control," "air quality management," and "federal sustainability." The agencies said they applied the lists as general criteria rather than evaluating each grant individually.

The court documents showed that NSF and NIH provided lists of terminated grants but did not always tie specific terms to each award. UC researchers argue the cuts violate the First Amendment by targeting viewpoint. Preliminary injunctions have temporarily blocked terminations issued via form letters, and a federal judge ordered the restoration of more than $500 million in funding to UCLA that had been suspended.

The litigation remains pending, and the extent of the funding reductions and their legal implications are still under review.