NASA staff beg Elon Musk to 'clean house' after agency spent millions of Americans' money on DEI agenda

NASA unit are calling on Elon Musk to 'clean house' arsenic it is revealed the bureau blew millions of payer wealth connected diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.

Spending reports from 2020 to 2024 showed NASA awarded grants to universities and consulting firms to enactment 'environmental justice' and initiatives that 'embrace greater diverseness and inclusive practices.'

LMI consulting received implicit $2 cardinal successful 2023 for NASA to 'embark connected a task to incorporated and profoundly engrain diversity, inclusion, equity and accessibility successful the civilization and business.' 

Another $3 cardinal went to Booze Allen Hamilton successful March to enactment NASA's 'office of diverseness and adjacent accidental DEI information analytic specialty,' and $ 7 cardinal was announced past period for six 'minority-serving institutions.'

Amid these expenditures, unit person voiced concerns online astir fund shortages, citing struggles with 'limited funds' owed to 'wasteful spending.' Software technologist Kyle Sorensen told he hopes Musk volition 'clean house.'

Musk, on with erstwhile Republican statesmanlike campaigner Vivek Ramaswamy, was tapped to pb the Department of Government Efficiency that aims to 'slash excess regulations, chopped wasteful expenditures and restructure Federal Agencies.'

A erstwhile NASA worker told DailyMail.com that NASA's DEI is 'destroying America's quality to vie with China successful abstraction due to the fact that the Biden-Harris medication volition lone money programs that diagnostic it.'

NASA receives, connected average, astir 0.4 percent of what the US authorities spends each year, but is inactive fixed a fund of astatine slightest $20 billion.

While the abstraction bureau has dished retired millions for DEI, it's information showed it generated much than $75.6 billionin economical output crossed each 50 states and Washington, D.C., successful fiscal twelvemonth 2023.

Yet, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) laid disconnected 5 percent, 325 employees, of its workforce this week and a erstwhile 530 that were fto spell successful February.

The American abstraction bureau began incorporating diverseness and adjacent employment accidental elements into supervisors' show plans successful 2005 but did not clasp leaders afloat accountable until 2021.

This displacement coincided with the Biden-Harris Administration's enforcement order, emphasizing diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility wrong the national workforce.

NASA's spending report, archetypal reported connected by the Daily Signal, highlighted respective universities that received NASA grants for biology justice, including the Regents of the University of California that was awarded $250,000.

The money was provided to enactment 'Earth Science Applications: Equity and Environmental Justice.'

And successful 2020, NASA allocated astir $900,000 to the National Academy of Sciences, a private, non-profit organization.

The assistance was for 'increasing diverseness and inclusion successful the enactment of competed abstraction missions by establishing an advertisement hoc committee to urge actions to summation diversity, inclusion, equity and accessibility successful the enactment of abstraction ngo proposals.'

The Southeastern Universities Research Association was besides fixed thousands of dollars to marque the NASA's heliophysics worldly 'more applicable and unfastened to the Latinx and Native American communities.'

DailyMail.com uncovered much DEI grants worthy missions that had not published successful the spending report, including the funds fixed to Booz Allen Hamilton. 

The Virginia-based institution is described arsenic 'a absorption and exertion consulting steadfast that provides services to the U.S. government, military, and different organizations.'

While Booz Allen Hamilton has conducted abstraction exploration probe for NASA, it has received oregon been promised respective grants for DEI programs. 

Reports from USA Spending.gov amusement a $3.3 cardinal assistance connection issued successful March for 'NASA's Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity DEI information analytics and assessment.'

Completion of the grant is scheduled for August 2025. 

'NASA JPL volition laic disconnected astir a 1000 workers this twelvemonth to marque fund abstraction for a plethora of ridiculous connection crockery DEI and biology programs which lend thing to existent abstraction exploration,' the erstwhile NASA worker said.

'DEI is simply a afloat employment programme for radical with different useless degrees.'

An August study recovered that NASA spent much than $1 cardinal little connected planetary subject successful the archetypal 2 years of the decadal play (2023 - 2032).

'If these trends continue, determination volition beryllium a $5 to 11 cardinal shortfall successful planetary subject backing by 2032,' reads the study from the Planetary Society.

'These missing billions volition trim the complaint of mean and tiny planetary missions, severely hold caller flagship missions to Uranus and Enceladus, and severely constrain options for implementing Mars Sample Return.'

The study suggested NASA is not spending capable connected planetary science, yet has gone good supra fund during the Biden Administration. 

Rudy Ridolfi, erstwhile Space System Commander successful the US military, told DailyMail.com that '[the DEI funding] is simply a tiny magnitude comparative to [NASA's]research budget,' but with' the Artemis Program overruns, NASA should beryllium conserving each dollar of their budget.'

NASA has been plagued by overrun costs during the Biden Administration, exceeding its astir $99 cardinal from taxpayers by astir $10 billion.

When asked astir the $10 cardinal overrun successful costs, John Conafay, erstwhile US Air Force and worked astatine the Office of the CFO NASA, told DailyMail.com: 'It's not good.'

'Artemis was the large programme for the outgo overruns. The docket acceptable by the Biden Administration and the conception of the Lunar Gateway were conscionable excessively overmuch for NASA to accomplish,' Ridolfi said.

Conafay explained that the  US has been utilizing cost-plus contracts since World War II. These contracts let companies to renegotiate for much backing erstwhile they brushwood delays oregon issues, which has contributed to NASA's fund challenges. 

'A batch of radical are retired determination benignant of questioning like, wherefore are we doing this,' helium said.

'Why aren't we doing fixed terms contracts? So it improperly incentivizes escaped marketplace to physique what they say, they're going to physique connected clip and nether budget. Otherwise, if that outgo them right?'

DailyMail.com has contacted NASA for comment.