White House proposal would require political review of federal grants

A draft regulation published by the Office of Management and Budget would require political appointees to review every federal grant awarded to universities and nongovernmental organizations. The 400-page proposal states that grants must “demonstrably advance the president’s policy priorities.” It was posted Friday in the Federal Register without an accompanying announcement.

Public response and stated rationale By Tuesday afternoon more than 3,000 comments had been submitted, nearly all in opposition. The document’s executive summary says federal awards under the prior administration “were often used to promote a ‘woke’ policy agenda that did not reflect the values of the vast majority of the American public.”