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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →In February 2025, The Washington Post reported that National Science Foundation staff were reviewing active grants against a list of flagged terms and assessing projects in context. The report described a circulated decision flowchart and possible funding actions, but it did not establish that any word was automatically banned or that every flagged grant was canceled. “Thought crime” was Futurism’s provocative analogy—not a criminal offense or a term used in NSF policy. NSF’s later public guidance says, “There is not a list of words” investigators should avoid.
What did the reported NSF review involve?
On February 4, 2025, The Washington Post reported, citing an internal document it reviewed and two NSF employees familiar with the process, that staff were combing through thousands of active research projects alongside dozens of flagged terms. The stated purpose was to determine whether grant activities conflicted with executive orders issued by President Donald Trump during his first week in office. The newspaper described a decision flowchart shared with researchers, but the reporting does not establish that the specific chart was an authenticated, officially published NSF policy document.
The reported list included terms such as “trauma,” “barriers,” “equity,” “excluded,” “disability,” “gender,” “women,” “underrepresented,” and “underserved.” The Post said the terms prompted scrutiny rather than functioning as a blanket ban. Staff were expected to consider context and justify why a flagged project did not violate an order. For example, the paper reported that “accessibility” might draw scrutiny in a diversity, equity, and inclusion context, but not when referring to data accessibility.
The internal document, as described by the Post, listed modification or termination of a grant in part or in whole among possible further actions for projects deemed noncompliant. That reported range of possible actions does not show that a keyword alone triggered termination, or that every project flagged was cut.
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Is “thought crime” an accurate description?
No. “Thought crime” was Futurism’s analogy to George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, not NSF terminology or a legal characterization. The underlying report concerned administrative review of grant-supported activities and possible eligibility or funding decisions—not criminalizing thoughts or words. USC professor Darby Saxbe, quoted by Futurism, criticized the breadth of the reported list, saying: “You can’t design a study of humans without using at least one of these terms.” That is her criticism, not an NSF finding.
What does NSF’s public guidance say now?
NSF’s public Updates on NSF Priorities page, retrieved October 8, 2026, answers whether investigators should avoid particular words with: “There is not a list of words.” The agency says applicants should focus on their proposal’s substance and NSF’s Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts criteria. It also says proposals that do not align with agency priorities may be returned without review; those not returned continue through the standard process.
The same page says researchers may study individuals or groups based on protected characteristics when that focus is intrinsic to the research question, is not aimed at expanding STEM participation based on protected characteristics, and addresses an important science-and-engineering knowledge gap. NSF says outreach and participation activities must be open and available to all Americans under its stated guidance. These are the agency’s descriptions of its own requirements, not an independent legal analysis.
NSF’s archived executive-order FAQ likewise said the agency did not recommend a keyword-based approach and advised investigators to focus on proposal substance. It also stated that proposal processing and review had resumed and that NSF was complying with court orders concerning efforts to pause, freeze, block, cancel, or terminate awards. That archived FAQ and the later priorities page are official public statements in a changing legal and administrative environment; they should not be treated as proof of how every grant is currently being handled.
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How does the reported process differ from NSF’s public guidance?
| Question | February 2025 reporting | NSF public guidance retrieved October 8, 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Source | The Washington Post described an internal document and accounts from two NSF employees. | NSF’s published priorities page and archived executive-order FAQ. |
| Screening approach | Flagged terms reportedly prompted staff to review project context. | NSF says there is no list of words to avoid and directs applicants to proposal substance and agency criteria. |
| Possible consequence | The reported internal document described potential grant modification or termination for projects considered noncompliant. | NSF says proposals that do not align with agency priorities may be returned without review; those not returned continue through the standard process. |
| What the evidence establishes | Reporting described a circulated chart and review process; it did not authenticate a current public version or establish automatic cancellation based on a word. | The pages establish what NSF has publicly said about its guidance, not whether the chart circulated in 2025 was used exactly as described. |
What do the reported grant totals mean?
On February 11, 2025, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation said its own database contained more than 3,400 grants totaling more than $2.05 billion. Those are the committee’s counts and financial total, and its release included a political characterization of the grants; they are not an independent audit of the operational screening process described by the Post. Separately, the Post characterized NSF as a $9 billion agency in its February 4 report. That agency-wide figure and the committee’s database total refer to different things and should not be conflated.
Can a flagged word get a grant canceled?
The February 2025 reporting says a flagged term could lead to contextual review and that the internal document described possible further action, including partial or full termination. It does not establish that a word by itself automatically canceled a grant. NSF’s later public guidance says applicants should not avoid a word list and describes a return-without-review route for proposals that do not align with agency priorities. For a particular award, the applicable terms, agency communications, and developments after these public statements matter.
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Is there really an NSF decision tree?
The Post reported that a decision flowchart was circulated and described its role in a review of active grants. The sources establish neither an authenticated current public copy nor that the exact chart was used in precisely the form circulated. NSF’s published guidance is the firmer basis for understanding what the agency says publicly now; it is not a substitute for evidence about the specific 2025 artifact or a determination about an individual award.
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