Department of Transportation, NEA Cut Federal Grants

More federal agencies are cutting funding for colleges and universities.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy announced Friday that the Department of Transportation eliminated seven “woke university grants,” totaling $54 million.

The canceled grants include $12 million to the University of California, Davis, for “accelerating equitable decarbonization” research, about $9 million to City College of New York’s Center for Social and Economic Mobility for People and Communities through Transportation, and about $9 million to the University of Southern California for research on how “the transportation system creates and perpetuates inequities,” according to a news release from the department.

The department also cut a $6 million grant to New York University to fund research on “e-bikes to low-income travelers in transit deserts” and about $6 million to San José State University to study racial, gender and socioeconomic inequities in transportation, about $6 million to the University of New Orleans for environmental justice research, and $6 million to Johns Hopkins University for research on “hyperlocal pollution exposure inequalities in New York City.”

“The American people have zero interest in millions of their tax dollars funding research on the intersection of gender non-conforming people and infrastructure inequality or whether road improvement projects are racist,” Duffy said in the release. “It’s time to inject a dose of reality back into our higher education system, and that starts with ending these wasteful and divisive grants.”

Hundreds of recipients of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts also received notice Friday that their funding had been withdrawn or terminated, NPR reported.

The move came shortly before President Trump proposed eliminating the NEA in his 2026 discretionary budget request. The NEA, currently funded at $207 million, has awarded $5.5 billion in grants since its founding by Congress in 1965.

“The NEA is updating its grantmaking policy priorities to focus funding on projects that reflect the nation’s rich artistic heritage and creativity as prioritized by the President,” read the email sent to those whose grants were canceled.

According to the email, Trump’s priorities include “projects that elevate the Nation’s HBCUs and Hispanic Serving Institutions, celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence, foster AI competency, empower houses of worship to serve communities, assist with disaster recovery, foster skilled trade jobs, make America healthy again, support the military and veterans, support Tribal communities, make the District of Columbia safe and beautiful, and support the economic development of Asian American communities.”

The email gave grant recipients seven days to appeal the decision.