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The Python Software Foundation (PSF) says it withdrew its recommended $1.5 million National Science Foundation proposal because the proposed award terms would have restricted programs across the organization—not just the funded package-security project. The PSF’s board voted unanimously to withdraw on October 27, 2025, saying it could not accept the condition consistently with its mission.
Why did the Python Software Foundation turn down the $1.5 million grant?
In January 2025, the PSF submitted a proposal to the National Science Foundation’s Safety, Security, and Privacy of Open Source Ecosystems program. The foundation said the proposal passed a multi-round review and was recommended for funding. It later withdrew the application after raising concerns about a certification it said was part of the proposed award terms. In its October 27, 2025 announcement, PSF Deputy Executive Director Loren Crary said the board had voted unanimously to withdraw. PSF withdrawal announcement
The PSF said it sought clarity and tried to find a way forward, but concluded it could not make the certification and remain true to its mission. Crary described the choice as one between accepting the terms and retaining the freedom to support every part of the Python community.
What were the DEI restrictions?
According to the PSF’s account, the proposed certification would have required an applicant to “not, and will not during the term of this financial assistance award, operate any programs that advance or promote DEI, or discriminatory equity ideology in violation of Federal anti-discrimination laws.” The PSF said the wording reached beyond the work paid for by the grant and applied to “any and all activity of the PSF as a whole.”
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That distinction is central: the proposed project was about software-package security, while the PSF understood the certification to cover the organization’s other programs as well. The available sources do not include the complete underlying award document, so the scope described here is the PSF’s characterization of the proposed terms—not an independent legal interpretation of the clause. They also do not establish whether the language would have been legally enforceable.
The PSF said a violation could allow the NSF to recover funds already approved and transferred, which it characterized as an open-ended financial risk. This was a potential clawback risk cited by the foundation; it does not mean that funds were transferred or that a clawback occurred.
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What was the NSF grant supposed to fund?
The proposed two-year, $1.5 million project was intended to address structural vulnerabilities in Python and the Python Package Index (PyPI), the repository where developers publish and obtain Python packages. The PSF described plans for tools that could automate proactive reviews of packages uploaded to PyPI, using capability analysis designed around a dataset of known malware.
The foundation said the approach could also be transferable to other open-source package registries, including npm and Crates.io, and could help protect users from software supply-chain attacks. Those were anticipated benefits of the proposed work; the withdrawal announcement does not establish that the tools were completed, deployed, or later funded through another source.
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Why did the condition conflict with the PSF’s mission?
The PSF’s mission is “to promote, protect, and advance the Python programming language, and to support and facilitate the growth of a diverse and international community of Python programmers.” The foundation describes itself as a nonprofit membership organization and a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) public charity. PSF mission and organization
The PSF said it could not agree to a condition it believed would constrain programs connected to that mission. That explains the foundation’s stated decision; it does not determine the clause’s legal meaning or enforceability.
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To convey the proposal’s significance, the PSF said in October 2025 that it had 14 staff and an annual budget of around $5 million, and called the proposed grant potentially its largest. Those are historical figures reported by the PSF at the time, not current organizational statistics. The PSF also cited a 36% first-attempt success rate for new NSF grant applicants, but did not specify the figure’s reference year; the reviewed materials do not independently verify it.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Is the PSF’s 2026 grants round connected to this proposal?
No connection is stated. The PSF’s current grants page describes a separate 2026 round with a total budget of $90,000 for qualifying conferences and workshops scheduled between December 1, 2026, and April 30, 2027. It is not described as replacement funding for the withdrawn NSF security proposal. PSF grants
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