FIRST ON FOX: A consumer watchdog group is accusing the federally funded National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine of using taxpayer dollars to support DEI, transgender-related and other left-leaning initiatives, according to a new report.
Consumers’ Research compiled the „Woke Alert“ report outlining what it describes as left-leaning research, workshops and grants from the congressionally chartered institution, including projects related to transgender youth, diversity and inclusion initiatives, policing and climate advocacy.
Will Hild, executive director of Consumers’ Research, accused the organization, which receives 70% of its budget from federal funds, of being „a radical woke organization masquerading as a nonpartisan educational institution.“
„From pushing transgender ideology onto kids to spreading ‘defund the police’ insanity, this taxpayer-supported organization regularly abuses its status and reputation to fund the left’s favorite causes,“ Hild said in a statement to Fox News Digital. „It has shamefully used hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars to push a highly polarized woke agenda behind lofty BS rhetoric about independence and objectivity.“
Consumers’ Research argued that NASEM has established its allegiance with left-leaning transgender ideology through its various publications, such as a workshop titled „Supporting the Health and Well-Being of Transgender and Gender Diverse Youth,“ and a book titled „Reducing Inequalities Between Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Adolescents and Cisgender, Heterosexual Adolescents: Proceedings of a Workshop 2022.“
The report highlighted that for years, NASEM has run a variety of DEI workshops with titles including „Advancing Antiracism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in STEMM Organizations: Current Context and Challenges;“ and another titled „Protecting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Higher Education and the Workforce,“ which was focused on putting affirmative action in place without race-based criteria.
In 2022, the National Academies partnered with the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to hand out grants worth $1.15 million per recipient in an effort to promote DEI among biomedical researchers.
In response to the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, NASEM established its Committee on Reducing Racial Inequalities in the Criminal Justice System. The committee evaluated a proposal to cut $50 million from Austin, Texas’s police budget.
The report noted that committee co-chair Bruce Western accused police officers of having „caused a great deal of harm in low-income communities and communities of color.“
In one of NASEM’s studies, researchers accused police officers of being a „leading cause of death for young men in the United States.“
The National Academies have also published multiple studies raising concerns over climate change. In one of the studies, the Academies focused on elevating techniques that would make Americans more likely to participate in climate activism.
NASEM previously came under fire in August 2025 for publishing a climate review seeking to influence the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision on whether to rescind an Obama-era greenhouse gas finding. Critics suggested that NASEM was seeking to undermine the authority of the Trump administration.
Roger Pielke Jr., a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute specializing in science and technology policy, told Fox News Digital that in recent years, the National Academies has gone from acting under the direction of Congress to acting as an „independent actor“ for the interests of billionaires and foundations.
Pielke said the National Academies received funding from the Bezos Earth Fund, a Jeff Bezos project created to address climate change. Through that support, the National Academies published a manual titled „Constructing Valid Geospatial Tools for Environmental Justice.“ Pielke noted that the Bezos Earth Fund funds litigation centered on climate change and argued that „there is pretty strong evidence of a bias“ in the Bezos Earth Fund.
„So I think issues about conflicts of interest and bias go well beyond just funding sources,“ Pielke said. „They also extend to the groups researchers choose to partner with when conducting work that is supposed to be neutral and scientific.“
Fox News Digital reached out to NASEM for comment.
Watchdog targets taxpayer-funded National Academies over DEI, climate and transgender spending 2026 IUSTITIA.BG – Investigations 2009-2025 2026-03-30 20:31:41 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law
