STAT+: NIH restores DEI prohibition for grant recipients within hours of rescinding it
The NIH rescinded a 7-week-old DEI directive on Monday, only to reinstate it hours later without explanation.
File it under bureaucratic whiplash: On Monday, the National Institutes of Health rescinded a 7-week-old DEI directive, only to reinstate it hours later without explanation.
The maneuvering dates back to April, when the National Institutes of Health began requiring grantees to certify they did not have diversity, equity, and inclusion policies that ran afoul of anti-discrimination laws or boycotts of Israel in order to receive funding for research. The move made some universities worry about their ability to accept grant funding from the NIH without opening themselves up to litigation from the Trump administration.
Fast forward to Monday of this week: The agency posted a notice on its website that the policy was rescinded. The original directive was marked “Rescinded,” in red type.
