Kennedy to NIH's Lawrence Tabak: Applicants Who Back Equal Treatment 'Get an F'? (May 4, 2023)

On May 4, 2023, the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that funds the Department of Health and Human Services, chaired by Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, held a hearing on the National Institutes of Health’s budget request for fiscal year 2024 [1]. The witnesses were NIH’s acting director, Dr. Lawrence Tabak, and senior officials from four NIH institutes. Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana began by praising the agency (“your work is breathtaking”), then asked Tabak about one NIH hiring program. This video shows part of that exchange. All quotes below are from the official hearing record [1].

Key Moments

”Gets an F”

“In 2020, you created a program called The Faculty Institutional Recruitment for Sustainable Transformation,” Kennedy said, which he said gave 12 institutions $241 million and directed them “to demonstrate a strong commitment to promoting diversity and inclusive excellence when you hire people.” Two of the recipients, he said, were the University of South Carolina, hiring in public health and nursing, and the University of New Mexico, hiring in neuroscience and data science. According to Kennedy, both schools’ hiring rules gave “a very low score for anyone who states, ‘An intention to ignore the varying backgrounds of their students and treat everyone the same.’” “So they took your money and they said we’re hiring faculty members and any applicant who says we don’t believe in racial prejudice. We think everybody ought to be treated the same gets an F. Did you know that?”

“I’m not familiar with the specifics like you are mentioning, Senator,” Tabak said. He agreed to look into it and said, “This program is an important effort by NIH to create a more highly diverse workforce."

"Do you know anybody against diversity?”

“I agree with that. It’s a good idea,” Kennedy said. “Do you know anybody against diversity?” “Well, unfortunately, sir, … I have run across a few over the years,” Tabak answered. “Our effort is to create an environment where people from all backgrounds in every different dimension will be safe and welcomed to conduct high-quality biomedical research.” Kennedy then asked whether it was fair for the two universities to tell an applicant “who’s borrowed hundreds of thousands of dollars to get her Ph.D.” and says “I believe in racial equality, I believe everybody should be treated the same” that “they get an F. They’re dismissed summarily.” “Again, sir, I can’t speak to the specifics of these institutions. I will look into it,” Tabak said.

”Is that moral? Is that constitutional?”

Kennedy pressed with a hypothetical: could an employer say “I’m only going to hire Asian Americans”? “Well, God knows I’m not a lawyer,” Tabak replied, adding that reaching a faculty position “is a multistep process and very often highly-qualified candidates are never even considered because of where they train, where they’re from, or what they look like. … And none of that is fair.” Kennedy said Tabak was not answering his question and asked again whether it was right to reject applicants for saying they want to treat everyone the same. “I would need to understand the context, sir,” Tabak said, “and I really don’t know what these institutions are saying to candidates and I will certainly find out.” “I’m going to follow up,” Kennedy said. “This disturbs me. Because I don’t think that’s lawful.”

Background: The FIRST Program

FIRST was an NIH Common Fund program that, in NIH’s words, aimed “to enhance and maintain cultures of inclusive excellence in the biomedical research community,” funding universities to hire cohorts of faculty [2]. Its concept was presented to an NIH advisory council in January 2020 [2]. NIH’s list of awards included both schools Kennedy named: the University of South Carolina’s “Faculty Initiative for Improved Recruitment, Retention, and Experience” and “UNM FIRST: Promoting Inclusive Excellence in Neuroscience and Data Science” at the University of New Mexico [3].

The rubric language Kennedy quoted had been obtained by John Sailer, a critic of diversity statements, who later wrote in the Wall Street Journal that one rubric “penalizes job candidates for espousing colorblind equality and gives low scores to those who say they intend to ‘treat everyone the same’” [4].

The Record

The two universities. Both schools Kennedy named were FIRST awardees, and the New Mexico award was for neuroscience and data science, as he said [3].
The scoring language. Sailer’s reporting on the schools’ rubrics matches the language Kennedy quoted, and Sen. Bill Cassidy later cited it in a formal letter to NIH [4]. Tabak did not dispute it at the hearing; he said he was not familiar with the specifics [1].

What Happened Next

A Senate letter: On June 11, 2024, Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, the top Republican on the Senate health committee, wrote to NIH Director Monica Bertagnolli citing the rubric reporting and saying it was “unclear how NIH conducts program oversight or whether it has raised any concerns about the use of these rubrics” [4].
Trump ended federal DEI programs: On Jan. 20, 2025, President Trump ordered an end to DEI programs across the federal government. His order said that “the Biden Administration forced illegal and immoral discrimination programs, going by the name ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ (DEI), into virtually all aspects of the Federal Government” [7].
The program ended: NIH’s website now states: “A closeout of the FIRST program has taken place and awardees are no longer receiving funding” [5].
Tabak’s departure: Tabak retired from NIH effective Feb. 11, 2025. CBS News reported that he was forced to retire, following “years of intense scrutiny of Tabak from Republican lawmakers at multiple congressional hearings” over the agency’s oversight of “gain-of-function” research and its grants to the EcoHealth Alliance and the Wuhan Institute of Virology [6].