HHS pulls millions from Duke under Trump DEI order, alleging race-based hiring at health arm
In a letter to Duke President Vincent Price, Chairman of the Board of Trustees Adam Silver, and School of Medicine Dean Mary Klotman, Secretaries Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Linda McMahon outlined that racial preferences in hiring, student admissions, governance and patient care "betray" the mission of American health care and "endanger human lives."
"The United States invests in medical care and research because of the sacredness of human life and value of human health," the letter read.
"There is arguably no other area of our educational system where the rejection of merit is more dangerous than in medicine, where the competence of doctors means the difference between life and death for patients, and where scientific discovery is the difference between life-saving cures and the ravages of disease."
Kennedy and McMahon said their respective agencies have been investigating allegations that Duke Health's practices may be violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and Section 1557 of the ObamaCare law.
Therefore, the secretaries said, the situation "render[s] Duke Health unfit for any further financial relationship with the federal government."
A senior administration official told Fox News Digital the ultimate amount of the frozen funding is $108 million.
The Civil Rights Act code cited prohibits recipients of financial assistance from denying benefits or discriminating against individuals based on race, color or national origin.
The Affordable Care Act section cited extends health care protections for federal funding that forbid the aforementioned discrimination; adding the fields of disability, age and sex.
Duke Health allegedly engaged in "illegal and wrongful racial preferences and discriminatory activity in recruitment, student admissions, scholarships and financial aid, mentoring and enrichment programs, hiring, promotion, and more," according to Kennedy and McMahon.
They called such racism "vile" and said it "hides behind a smug superiority" that "such [so-called] 'benefitted' races cannot compete under merit-based consideration."
"Affirmative action undermines America's commitment to merit-based justice and violates the nation's civil rights laws. In the medical context, this illegal preferencing also breaks faith with patients, hinders medical discovery, and jeopardizes human life and health."
The feds kept the door open to future partnerships with Duke, noting the school and hospital has long had a commitment to medical excellence and would prefer to see it "repair these problems."
In order to return to good standing, Duke Health must review all policies and procedures in terms of illegal use of race preference, take immediate action and provide verifiable assurances to Washington that the medical unit will operate in "good faith" oncemore.
"If the alleged offending policies, practices, and programs are found to exist and remain unrectified after six months, or if at any time the Merit and Civil Rights Committee and federal government reach an impasse, the federal government will commence enforcement proceedings as appropriate," the secretaries warned in closing.
Fox News Digital reached out to Duke via Price's office and also solicited comment from Silver via his day job as NBA commissioner.
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