Last week, organizations receiving grant funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) received an email from the Office of Management and Budget directing them to detail what their federally funded projects do and to rate how well they comply with President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, transgender people, and climate change in an accompanying survey.
“You are receiving this email because you are the recipient of an award or contract from CDC,” reads a copy of the email obtained by the Colorado Times Recorder. “For this questionnaire, your answers should relate to your CDC-funded work. You may receive additional inquiries from other units within CDC that require a separate response. Thank you for taking the time to fill in this questionnaire that aims to provide the United States government with information regarding how the foreign assistance provided to your organization makes the American people safer, stronger, and more prosperous. “
In addition to questions about costs and efficacy of programs, the survey also asks, “Can you confirm that this is not a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) project and that there are no DEI elements of that project,” and includes a link to Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order, “Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing.”
The email also outlines the political bent of CDC-funded projects moving forward. “Foreign assistance must promote American prosperity by advancing capitalism, markets that favor Americans, competition for American partnership, and economic self-reliance, not a global welfare mentality,” reads the OMB email. “Aid should secure exclusive partnerships, empower trade relationships that benefit U.S. businesses, strengthen American industries, protect American international investments, and create and prioritize opportunities for American workers. Taxpayer dollars must not fund dependency, socialism, corrupt regimes that oppose free enterprise, or intervene in internal matters of another sovereign nation. A truly prosperous America prioritizes domestic growth, innovation, and economic strength over foreign handouts.”
In a question reminiscent of the McCarthy era, the survey asks, “Can you confirm that your organization does not work with entities associated with communist, socialist, or totalitarian parties, or any party that espouses anti-American beliefs?”
The survey also asks if contractors are complying with the Trump administrations directives towards transgender people. “Does this project take appropriate measures to protect women and to defend against gender ideology,” the survey asks.
Ten lawsuits have been taken up against the Trump administration’s anti-trans policies so far, and four have resulted in temporary restraining orders that pause enforcement.
The survey also asks, “What impact does this project have on protecting religious minorities, promoting religious freedom, and combatting Christian persecution?”
In Colorado, the CDC funds a wide variety of programs. In 2023, the CDC appropriated $7,002,212 for overdose prevention activities Colorado and $946,139 for suicide prevention activities. In 2023, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment received a $42 million Public Health Infrastructure Grant from the CDC to support the Public Health workforce.
