Latest from the White House (September 2)
Executive Order Seeks to Mandate Political Review of Grant Awards
On August 7, the White House issued an Executive Order (EO) on Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking. This is a sweeping order that seeks to place several new requirements on federal grantmaking agencies, including science agencies. The EO states, “Every tax dollar the Government spends should improve American lives or advance American interests. This often does not happen.” It continues, “…the best proposals do not always receive funding, and there is too much unfocused research of marginal social utility.” [emphasis added]
In response, the EO calls for each federal grantmaking agency to create a process, overseen by a political appointee, for reviewing both new funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) and new discretionary awards before they are issued. Under the new process, no new discretionary awards can be made unless the political appointee determines they are consistent with agency priorities and “the national interest,” further stating that discretionary awards must “demonstrably advance the President’s policy priorities.” The EO additionally prescribes that grant funding cannot be used to support race preference, awardees who deny two sexes or that “sex is a chosen or mutable characteristic,” illegal immigration, or other “anti-American values.”
The EO goes further by requiring that all discretionary grant agreements include language to allow for “termination for convenience,” which includes projects that no longer advance agency priorities or are found to no longer be in the “national interest,” which is not defined. Agencies are expected to revise terms and conditions of current grants to permit immediate termination for convenience.
The Executive Order is likely in response to ongoing lawsuits about the federal government’s authority to terminate grants on specific topics that are not priorities for the Trump Administration (see related article).
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, expressed strong objection to the order, stating “In what world does Donald Trump think that Americans want political appointees – who, need I remind the President, are unelected bureaucrats – making decisions on what science gets funded?”
Congress will likely continue to address pieces of the EO through funding legislation in the weeks ahead. Stay tuned for additional coverage.
Trump Issues EO for Transparency in Higher Education Admissions
On August 7, President Trump issued an Executive Order (EO), Ensuring Transparency in Higher Education Admissions. The EO, which builds off previous orders relating the Administration’s attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices, identifies a “persistent lack of available data” on the influence of race on higher education admissions (see previous COSSA coverage). The EO calls for the National Center for Education Statistics’ (NCES) Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)—which collects important data from U.S. colleges, universities, and technical and vocational institutions—to promote transparency and remove perceived inefficiencies through expanding “the scope of required reporting” and accuracy checks of submitted data. The Secretary of Education is directed to oversee these changes and take remedial action against institutions that do not comply.
A list of notable Trump Executive Orders can be found here. Stay tuned to COSSA’s continued coverage on the Trump Administration and relevant policy to the social and behavioral science community.