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3w ago

Trump Order Halts New Federal Grants Pending Political Oversight

Agencies must designate senior political appointees to vet all funding decisions, prompting legal challenges over politicization, warnings of widespread disruption to research, aid programs.

President Donald Trump speaks at an event to mark National Purple Heart Day in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
U.S. President Donald Trump talks to the media as he meets with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (not pictured) at Trump Turnberry golf club on July 28, 2025 in Turnberry, Scotland. U.S.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a Purple Heart Day event to honor members of the military wounded or killed in action, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 7, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
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Overview

  • Trump’s August 7 executive order suspends all new federal grant solicitations until agencies establish political oversight protocols.
  • Agency heads must name senior political appointees to review funding announcements and discretionary awards based on national interest criteria and exclude initiatives deemed “anti-American.”
  • The order empowers those appointees to cancel existing grants at any time if projects fail to advance administration priorities or comply with the new ideological standards.
  • Research and scientific organizations warn that sidelining expert peer review risks disrupting critical projects funded by NIH, NSF, CDC, FEMA and could delay advances in public health and disaster preparedness.
  • Several universities and civil-rights groups have filed lawsuits arguing the order unlawfully withholds congressionally appropriated funds and politicizes merit-based grantmaking.