NSF pauses closure of STEM equity division following court order, staff letter says

The National Science Foundation’s planned termination of a division dedicated to promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in STEM education is on ice while a federal court ruling blocks mass reductions in the federal workforce.

A Monday letter to employees in the Division of Equity for Excellence in STEM obtained by FedScoop said that a temporary restraining order issued Friday is requiring the agency to “suspend several activities” that it carried out last week, including the abolishment of the equity component. 

That letter was sent to division staff by Star Anderson, NSF’s acting director of the human resources management division. Anderson said the ruling also pauses the reduction-in-force, or RIF, within the division, and requires any employees who were already placed on administrative leave to continue performing their role.

The equity division is part of the NSF’s Directorate for STEM Education and had already been removed from the NSF website Friday. An archived version of the site described its mission as the promotion of “diversity, equity and inclusion in STEM by removing barriers and supporting the full participation of underrepresented groups in science and engineering fields.”

Elimination of the division comes as President Donald Trump has ordered agencies to get rid of all DEI activities in agencies on the basis that such activities are “radical and wasteful.” NSF has already canceled hundreds of grants that didn’t align with Trump policies, including the directive to eliminate DEI.

NSF informed staff of the abolishment of the division in an internal memo to staff Friday afternoon, which was obtained by FedScoop. That memo also stated that the agency began carrying out a RIF of senior executive service staff, reducing temporary employees, and had implemented an in-person work policy.

An NSF spokesperson declined to comment to a FedScoop inquiry about the impact of the ruling on the other actions from last week.

The court ruling referenced by NSF was issued by Judge Susan Illston of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on Friday evening and temporarily prohibits the Trump administration from broad reductions of the federal workforce. Illston’s order will last until at least May 23. 

The decision, while temporary, is a victory for a coalition of unions, nonprofits and local governments who filed suit against the Trump administration alleging that the widespread RIFs in the executive branch can’t move forward without the help of Congress. Illston said she found that the plaintiffs were “likely to succeed on the merits of at least some of their claims.”

“The irreparable harm that plaintiffs will suffer in the absence of injunctive relief outweighs any burden placed on the government by this two-week pause,” Illston wrote. “In the context of a dynamic situation, the Court’s temporary order seeks to preserve the status quo and protect the power of the legislative branch.”