President Trump on Thursday signed an executive order tightening control of the federal grant funding process, requiring political appointees to sign off on each grant.
The order directs each agency head to designate a senior appointee who will be responsible for creating a process to review grant opportunity announcements and to ensure any grants awarded are “consistent with agency priorities and the national interest.”
“In short, there is a strong need to strengthen oversight and coordination of, and to streamline, agency grantmaking to address these problems, prevent them from recurring, and ensure greater accountability for use of public funds more broadly,” the order states. “The Government holds tax revenue in trust for the American people, and agencies should treat it accordingly.”
The text of the order cites federal grants that have been given to universities that are used to cover “facilities and administrative costs.” It also points to a federal grant that supported gain-of-function research, which came under scrutiny amid the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020.
The order is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to review and eliminate funding that does not align with the president’s “America First” agenda.
For months, Trump has clashed with Ivy League universities such as Harvard University, Brown University and the University of Pennsylvania. The Department of Government Efficiency has also sought to slash federal contracts, while the White House worked with Congress to claw back roughly $9 billion in previously approved funding for State Department programs and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
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