My legislation will end taxpayer funding for programs the federal government uses to censor speech.
End taxpayer funding for programs the federal government uses to censor speech by prohibiting federal spending on disinformation research grants and certain National Science Foundation programs.
Occurrences
My legislation will end taxpayer funding for programs the federal government uses to censor speech.
H.R.1233 - 119th Congress (2025-2026): To prohibit the obligation or expenditure of Federal funds for disinformation research grants, and for other purposes.
Evidence
"My legislation will end taxpayer funding for programs the federal government uses to censor speech." H.R. 8519 prevents taxpayer funds from being spent by any federal department or agency on "disinformation research grants." In addition, the legislation eliminates funding for specific programs within the National Science Foundation...
Sponsor: Rep. Massie, Thomas [R-KY-4] (Introduced 02/12/2025). Latest Action: House - 02/12/2025 Referred to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. This bill has the status Introduced.
This bill prohibits federal funding for (1) disinformation research grants, (2) the National Science Foundation (NSF) Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace grant program, and (3) programs within the NSF Convergence Accelerator grant program's Track F: Trust and Authenticity in Communications Systems.
The program page remains active and says: "Supports interdisciplinary research and education to develop a secure, resilient and trustworthy global cyber ecosystem..." It also lists updates and announcements through March 23, 2026 and states award limits and proposal dates for the solicitation.
NSF states: "NSF will not support research with the goal of combating 'misinformation,' 'disinformation,' and 'malinformation' that could be used to infringe on the constitutionally protected speech rights of American citizens across the United States in a manner that advances a preferred narrative about significant matters of public debate."
Assessments
Massie sponsored H.R.1233 in the 119th Congress on February 12, 2025, and the bill closely matched the promise by targeting federal funding for disinformation research grants and specified NSF programs. However, it remained only introduced and referred to committee, with no passage or enactment. NSF adopted some related priority language, but the targeted NSF programs were not broadly ended and that agency action did not amount to Massie's promised statutory spending prohibition. This is a serious legislative attempt but not delivery of the promised outcome.
Massie materially advanced the pledge by introducing H.R. 1233, which targeted disinformation research grants and specified NSF programs, but the bill only received introduction and committee referral. The NSF program evidence shows the targeted funding continued operating, so the promised end to taxpayer funding was not actually achieved.
Massie introduced legislation directly matching the promise, but the bill only reached introduction and committee referral and did not enact a binding federal spending prohibition. NSF later changed stated priorities around misinformation/disinformation research, but the targeted SaTC program continued operating and accepting proposals, so the promised funding cutoff was not delivered. Because he made a serious legislative attempt that failed to achieve the promised outcome, this is rated never with an effort badge.