DOGE Declares $881 Million Reduction in Education Department Contracts
Approximately 170 contracts related to the Institute of Education Sciences were the focus of the targeting efforts.
TroibNews 
The Education Department's funding for diversity programs and research initiatives is set to be cut, as revealed in a series of announcements made on Monday night regarding the agency's future.
The department has terminated 89 contracts totaling $881 million, as noted in an X post from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE); however, DOGE did not specify which contracts were affected. Additionally, DOGE reported the termination of 29 training grants focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion, amounting to $101 million. One of these grants aimed to train teachers to “help students understand / interrogate the complex histories involved in oppression, and help students recognize areas of privilege and power on an individual and collective basis,” as detailed in the post.
Sources familiar with the situation indicated that the Trump administration is putting a stop to around 170 contracts linked to the Education Department's Institute of Education Sciences.
These cuts come as the president prepares to issue an executive order this month aimed at winding down the department, while Education Secretary nominee Linda McMahon is scheduled to testify before Congress on Thursday.
The American Institutes for Research, a nonprofit that focuses on behavioral and social science research, confirmed that it received multiple termination notices on Monday regarding several IES contracts. The Institute of Education Sciences is a nonpartisan research branch of the department that examines special education, student learning outcomes, and other areas.
“The money that has been invested in research, data, and evaluations that are nearing completion is now getting the taxpayers no return on their investment,” stated Dana Tofig, a spokesperson for AIR. “If the point of this exercise is to make sure taxpayer dollars are not wasted and are used well, the evaluation and data work that has been terminated is exactly the work that determines which programs are effective uses of federal dollars, and which are not.”
The Department of Education and DOGE did not provide immediate responses to requests for comment.
Mathilde Moreau contributed to this report for TROIB News
The department has terminated 89 contracts totaling $881 million, as noted in an X post from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE); however, DOGE did not specify which contracts were affected. Additionally, DOGE reported the termination of 29 training grants focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion, amounting to $101 million. One of these grants aimed to train teachers to “help students understand / interrogate the complex histories involved in oppression, and help students recognize areas of privilege and power on an individual and collective basis,” as detailed in the post.
Sources familiar with the situation indicated that the Trump administration is putting a stop to around 170 contracts linked to the Education Department's Institute of Education Sciences.
These cuts come as the president prepares to issue an executive order this month aimed at winding down the department, while Education Secretary nominee Linda McMahon is scheduled to testify before Congress on Thursday.
The American Institutes for Research, a nonprofit that focuses on behavioral and social science research, confirmed that it received multiple termination notices on Monday regarding several IES contracts. The Institute of Education Sciences is a nonpartisan research branch of the department that examines special education, student learning outcomes, and other areas.
“The money that has been invested in research, data, and evaluations that are nearing completion is now getting the taxpayers no return on their investment,” stated Dana Tofig, a spokesperson for AIR. “If the point of this exercise is to make sure taxpayer dollars are not wasted and are used well, the evaluation and data work that has been terminated is exactly the work that determines which programs are effective uses of federal dollars, and which are not.”
The Department of Education and DOGE did not provide immediate responses to requests for comment.
Mathilde Moreau contributed to this report for TROIB News
