Python Software Foundation Withdraws $1.5M U.S. Government Grant Over DEI Restrictions

posted by Rianne Schestowitz on Oct 28, 2025,
updated Oct 28, 2025

Quoting: Python Software Foundation Withdraws $1.5M U.S. Government Grant Over DEI Restrictions —

The Python Software Foundation (PSF) has announced that it has withdrawn its $1.5 million proposal to the U.S. government’s National Science Foundation after discovering terms that would have restricted the organization’s ability to support diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. Here’s how it all unfolded.

In January 2025, the PSF applied for funding under the NSF’s Safety, Security, and Privacy of Open Source Ecosystems program. The proposal sought to address structural vulnerabilities in Python and the PyPI—a move intended to bolster the security of the Python ecosystem and protect millions of users from potential supply-chain attacks.

Read on

Update

More here:

• Python Software Foundation withdraws security-related grant proposal

  The Python Software Foundation, earlier this year, successfully obtained a $1.5 million grant from the US National Science Foundation "to address structural vulnerabilities in Python and PyPI". The actual grant came with some strings attached though, in the form of a requirement not to pursue diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. So the Foundation has withdrawn the proposal rather than agree to terms that run counter to its own mission.

• Python Foundation rejects $1.5M grant with no-DEI strings

  The Python Software Foundation (PSF) has walked away from a $1.5 million government grant and you can blame the Trump administration's war on woke for effectively weakening some open source security.