<p>In this study, six seminal education policy recommendation documents, each commissioned by a US President or developed under the auspices of the White House, were examined to understand how K-12 STEM education had been framed, prioritized, and guided in the USA since World War II. Although not all the documents focused exclusively on STEM education, each provided significant guidance on the subject, with varying degrees of emphasis. Using an adapted version of Bacchi’s <i>What’s the Problem Represented to Be?</i> (WPR) approach, the analysis examined how these documents represented educational problems, proposed solutions, and overlooked or underemphasized issues. Findings reveal both continuity and change across the decades. Early documents prioritized national security and economic competitiveness through elite scientific preparation, while later reports increasingly emphasized broader STEM literacy and inclusion. More recent documents placed equity and access at the center of STEM education reform efforts. However, this trajectory was disrupted by a series of Executive Orders in 2025 that reframed diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives as ideological overreach, rolling back federal support for programs aimed at broadening STEM participation among underrepresented racial and ethnic groups and women. Common themes across the documents include the persistent importance of teacher quality, recurring concerns about global competitiveness, and an evolving understanding of equity. Yet, persistent gaps remain, such as limited attention to elementary and middle school STEM education, underdeveloped strategies for addressing systemic inequities, and a tendency to present ambitious goals without detailed implementation plans. The analysis underscores the influence of socio-political and economic contexts on federal STEM education priorities and highlights the tension between competing visions of equity and merit-based advancement.</p>