Ex-congressman torches Musk's DOGE for axing program to help students escape dictatorship

Elon Musk's "Department of Government Efficiency" task force has identified what it claims to be another source of government waste: "$45 million in DEI scholarships," referring to diversity, equity and inclusion, a loose constellation of diversity-training policies the GOP has sought to demonize.

Posting to social media, the official DOGE account boasted that this program had been canceled. However, it did not specify the actual program they just canceled, wrote former Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ) in a scathing thread posted to X on Wednesday evening.

"So the DOGE bros are bragging today that they got 'DEI scholarships for Burma' canceled," wrote Malinowski, who also served as the assistant secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor under former President Barack Obama. "These are USAID's Lincoln Scholarships, which help young people struggling for freedom in Burma's dictatorship — a cause America has supported under Republican & Democratic presidents."

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"What could be 'woke' or 'DEI' about these scholarships?" Malinowski continued. "The only clue is that USAID says they're for students 'of diverse backgrounds' (oh no, diversity!). This is essential for Burma, where the military has exploited ethnic and religious divisions to stay in power."

Indeed, wrote Malinowski, one of the most outspoken champions of these programs has been Trump's newly-appointed Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who when he was in the Senate sponsored legislation to fight for human rights in Burma and protect the Muslim Rohingya minority, who endured years of ethnic cleansing efforts by Buddhist extremists — "which I guess now would count as DEI," he added.

"It looks like these geniuses are just going through grant awards and killing anything that uses words like 'diversity' and 'inclusion,' even though in countries where ethnic and religious minorities are murdered and persecuted, these have long been American goals," wrote Malinowski.