Energy Department’s DEI Program Violates Free Speech, Suit Says

The Department of Energy has been sued by a higher education reform group opposed to diversity, equity and inclusion programs in academia claiming the department requires research grant applicants to commit to how they’ll promote DEI.

The department’s Promoting Inclusive and Equitable Research plan, part of DOE’s Office of Science, violates the First Amendment and the Administrative Procedure Act, the National Association of Scholars said in their complaint filed Thursday at the US District Court for the Western District of Texas.

The PIER plan requirement “has nothing to do with the advancement of scientific research,” the scholars group says. “Instead ...