Three professors from the California State University system sued the National Science Foundation on Friday over terminated grant funds.
Three CSU professors challenge grant cancellations
Three professors from the California State University system sued the National Science Foundation on Friday for terminating their grant funds. The affected studies covered three areas: ways to support climate science education, expanding teacher preparation and increasing participation in STEM fields. The suit challenges the funding decisions made about those projects.¹
The cancellations followed a report put out by Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Cruz flagged the studies for keywords including “equity,” “inclusion” and “climate justice,” although the projects had already passed a merit-based review. The National Science Foundation adopted Cruz’s methodology in 2025 to determine which grants to terminate.¹²
“Our clients went through the government’s own rigorous review process, only to have their funding pulled because of the viewpoints their work was presumed to represent,” Ching said.¹
Kunyu Ching, an attorney with Lawyers for Good Government, is among the representatives for the professors. Ching said federal grants should depend on the quality of a proposal, not the political views of a president or congressmember. “Our clients went through the government’s own rigorous review process, only to have their funding pulled because of the viewpoints their work was presumed to represent,” Ching said.¹
Ching said the First Amendment does not let the government punish researchers simply because it disagrees with the words they use to explain their work. The suit also alleges violations of the Fifth Amendment, the Administrative Procedure Act and constitutional limits on executive authority. It asks the court for injunctive relief and to bar the National Science Foundation from canceling other grants based on researchers’ “political or academic viewpoints.”¹
EEOC plans a narrower pregnancy-accommodation rule
Education & University InsightsTexas Student Sues over Removal from Male Lead Role
The school replaced Little Shop of Horrors with Frozen after Mota declined a reassignment to Audrey.
Read More →Separately, the Trump administration is preparing to scale back workplace accommodations for women related to pregnancy and reproductive health. Seven people with knowledge of discussions about the plans said the changes would limit the impact of a 2022 law known as the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. The law was intended to fill a gap in disability and discrimination protections guaranteed to employees at work, including by providing accommodations for pregnant workers.²
Conservatives, including some who supported the law, have argued that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s rule reaches beyond pregnancy to include abortion, fertility treatment and related procedures and conditions. Andrea Lucas is the E.E.O.C.’s chair. The commission plans to publish a proposal narrowing which conditions qualify for accommodations as soon as this month.²
The proposed change is not expected to remove requirements that most directly protect women during pregnancy. Andrea Lucas, the E.E.O.C.’s chair, could remove explicit protections for conditions affecting women who are not pregnant. She was appointed chair in 2025. Since that appointment, the E.E.O.C. has brought dozens of cases and enforcement actions involving pregnancy-related discrimination.²
Andrea Lucas, the E.E.O.C.’s chair, said in 2024 that the rule “fundamentally errs in conflating pregnancy and childbirth accommodation with accommodation of the female sex.” The E.E.O.C. said it would not comment on potential regulatory changes. An agency spokeswoman said Lucas is a working mother of two daughters, one born during her tenure at the commission following a high-risk pregnancy.²
Conservatives, including some who supported the law, have argued that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s rule reaches beyond pregnancy to include abortion, fertility treatment and related procedures and conditions.
Check grant and pregnancy protections
If you work in higher education or plan to apply for federal research funding, note that the National Science Foundation now uses keyword screening, not just merit review, to cancel grants. Projects on climate science education, teacher preparation, and STEM participation were flagged for terms like equity, inclusion, and climate justice. Before you write a proposal, weigh how your language might be read under this methodology, and consider whether your institution can support your work if federal funds are pulled.¹²
For employees, the proposed narrowing of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act could remove explicit protections for conditions affecting women who are not pregnant, while keeping core pregnancy safeguards. If you are in a low-wage hourly role, you face a higher risk of losing your job or a health crisis if accommodations shrink. Ask your employer now what accommodations they guarantee, and check whether your state has its own protections independent of the federal rule.²
Sources
Education & University InsightsFormer Students Sue over Student Loan Discharges
The case challenges the department’s handling of relief for borrowers from closed for-profit colleges.
Read More →Written by Career Ahead AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify key facts. Report errors to support@careeraheadonline.com
