USDA Axes DEI from Rural Programs After Anti-Woke Executive Order
Published Date: 3/25/2025
Notice
Summary
The USDA’s Rural Development is updating 14 funding programs to remove diversity and inclusion rules from the last administration, following a new executive order. If you’ve already applied, don’t worry—you don’t need to reapply. Plus, they fixed a mistake in the Rural Energy for America funding to include a missing money source, effective March 25, 2025.
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 2 costs, 0 mixed.
Removal of DEI and Priority Scoring
USDA Rural Development amended 14 funding opportunities to remove references to the prior Administration's key priorities and DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion)-related scoring criteria, effective March 25, 2025. The prior key priorities that are removed included priority points for projects in distressed communities (Distress score of 80 or higher), communities with a Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) score of 0.75 or above, federally recognized Tribes or projects with at least 50% Tribal beneficiaries (with Tribal Resolution of Consent), projects in Rural Partner Network communities (lists include Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, West Virginia, and Wisconsin), and projects serving Disadvantaged or Energy Communities tied to CEJST or the Inflation Reduction Act definitions.
Discretionary Points Will Not Be Awarded
For the 14 amended funding notices, any discretionary points that were available from an Administrator or State Director for meeting the prior key priorities will not be available or awarded, effective March 25, 2025. The amendment covers programs listed in Table 1 of the notice and applies to scoring of applications.
REAP Corrected to Add $50M/Year Farm Bill Funding
The Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) notice is corrected to state that Farm Bill funding is available: "Approximately $50 million per Federal FY," added to the Federal Award Information section, effective March 25, 2025. This correction explicitly identifies an additional funding source for REAP for Fiscal Years 2025, 2026, and 2027.
No Need to Reapply If Already Submitted
If you already submitted an application to any of the affected programs, you do not need to withdraw, reapply, or supplement; your existing application will be reviewed consistent with this March 25, 2025 notice. If a program's deadline has not yet passed, applicants may still choose to withdraw, resubmit, or supplement before the deadline.
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Key Dates
Department and Agencies
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