State Dept Takes Deeper Dive Into DEI, Trans, Climate Aid

A State Department agency is reviewing its foreign assistance projects to determine if any funding went to initiatives involving climate change, gender ideology, or diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, which stated its mission is to champion "American values, including the rule of law and individual rights, which bring about safer, stronger, and more prosperous states," launched the review Wednesday, according to an internal email obtained by Politico.

The results of a questionnaire sent to organizations that receive State Department funding could decide the fate of aid projects that had been frozen since President Donald Trump's Inauguration Day executive order.

The email said the White House and the Office of Management and Budget requested the bureau conduct the review, according to Politico. The OMB has worked with the Department of Government Efficiency to streamline the federal government by eliminating waste and fraud for the past six weeks.

"The data call will require grantees to respond to 36 questions about the alignment of each individual award with the president's America First foreign policy," the email stated. Such alignment requires that "each dollar of foreign assistance makes America safer, stronger, and more prosperous." The State Department ordered the questionnaires to be submitted by "open-of-business" EST on Friday.

Those who implement State Department-sourced foreign aid must also grade their projects on a scale of zero to five regarding the extent to which their projects "impact efforts to counter malign influence, including China," help to prevent "illegal immigration to the U.S." and restrict flows of "fentanyl, synthetic drugs, and pre-cursor chemicals into the U.S."

The U.S. Agency for International Development sent out a similar questionnaire Wednesday to aid recipients in Africa seeking to ensure that foreign aid and its bureaucracy are "aligned with American interests and promote American values," according to Politico. USAID was dismantled by Trump and DOGE and folded into the State Department, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio named its acting administrator.

That 23-question survey makes no mention of DEI, gender ideology, or climate-related projects but instead seeks assurances that aid recipients avoid contact with problematic entities, including drug traffickers and those linked to "communist, socialist, or totalitarian parties, or any party that espouses anti-American beliefs," according to Politico.